“When I met my husband, do you know what he did on that first birthday we spent together? He wrapped my presents in Christmas wrapping paper. He learned pretty quickly to never do that again. No Santas or snowmen, please.”
‘I’m a Christmas Eve baby. My birthday didn’t have the greatest timing in the eyes of others around me.’
‘When he was born I heard, ‘Oh my God. He has RED HAIR!’ I paused. ‘No, just wash him a few times.’ The nurse washed him 3 times. ‘No mama, you’ve got a little ginger.’
“Trust me, I was shocked too. I can’t count how many times I had to explain he wasn’t adopted, wasn’t my stepson, and wasn’t albino. That I was his mom – not the aunt, Godmother, or the nanny.”
‘The doctor was staring up my vagina with a flashlight. ‘Whoa! He has some really blonde hair.’ AND I JUST KNEW. My husband smiled. ‘He’s an albino.’
“We should’ve realized there was something extra special with him when nurses were coming in to see the ‘baby with the white hair.’ It was so white it would sparkle in the sunlight. My mother in law stared in awe and said, ‘He’s like a special little fairy.’”
‘I asked my 95-year-old grandfather to dance with me. I have never seen him smile so big in my life. I wanted to live in this moment forever.’
“When my grandfather saw my tears, he asked me why I was crying.”
‘Hold me, Dada’: Stepdad ‘promises forever’ to stepdaughter during emotional wedding ceremony as he ‘marries’ her too
“He has kissed her booboos, rocked her to sleep, cleaned up throw up that went all down his shirt. He has been her constant.”
‘I’ll never forget that first homecoming’: Military dad breaks down in touching photos capturing father-daughter bond before she goes to college
“Some nights sleeping is hard. I think a lot about the past 17 years and how quickly they have gone. Shelby was born just prior to the 9/11 attacks. I was off training and then deployed to Iraq.”
What this mom of kids with special needs wishes people wouldn’t say to her
“I SEE YOU. Not just the special part. THE WHOLE PART.”
‘I miss them more than words can describe’: Marine’s 2-year-old brother steps in for PROM photos in his absence
“Even though Gage is 1,000 miles away, I still had a great prom! It meant so much to me to have Gage be a part of my night, even though he couldn’t actually be here with me.”
