“I have one child who has brought home a handful of awards year after year, and another who faithfully collects his lone participation certificate. His best will never look like scholar of the year. But success looks different on every child.”
‘School is hard for my daughter who has never made less than an ‘A.’ She practices and prints off extra homework. The thought of failure invokes panic in her busy little mind.’
‘Please don’t blame yourself mom. I LOVE YOU! I’m now looking down on you. LOOK UP. I SEE YOU.’ These were the last words my son wrote the day he took his own life.’
“I received a frantic phone call. He asked me to come home immediately. He was standing in the driveway looking very frazzled. He asked me to hug him. I asked him what was wrong. ‘You know the one thing you told me never to do?’ I was confused. ‘What are you talking about Jordan, what have you done?'”
‘My son played at her house earlier that day and acted up. This is the moment that finally broke me. This was the moment it all came flooding out.’
“It’s hard to hide you’re drowning when water is gushing onto the floor. I was horrified. I was embarrassed. I was sure she’d tell everyone. But instead, my friend simply said, ‘Let’s go out tonight.'”
‘There’s a Christmas tree. There’s a gingerbread man.’ But it’s what she said next that took my breath away. ‘And there’s Parker,’ my daughter recited.’
“As I looked at the plate of cookies, sure enough, there was a cookie angel I had decorated. I smiled at my daughter as my eyes welled up with tears.”
‘To some, Maddie was just a junkie — when they saw her addiction, they stopped seeing her. And what a loss for them.’
“Though we would have paid any ransom to have her back, any price in the world, this disease would not let her go until she was gone.”
‘My doctor treated me like I was a drug addict for asking for a prescription. ‘Don’t ever ask me for this again. I won’t keep giving it to you.’ I walked away feeling like I needed to shut up and deal with my anxiety on my own.’
“No one else was breaking down in tears, so I assumed I was the only one struggling.”
‘I finally got the words out, ‘I DON’T WANT TO LIVE ANYMORE!’ I grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen, filled my hand and swallowed. I will never, ever forget the look on her face.’
“The last message she sent to me read, ‘You don’t matter anyways, maybe you should just disappear.’”
‘Being on anxiety meds does not make me a failure. It means I am doing what I need to be the best I can for my kids, my family.’
“I am strong and I’m fighting anxiety daily. I am learning more about myself and my needs as a mom. I am brave. And I am not alone.”
‘I was 18 years old, a college dropout, unemployed, and living at my parents’ house with my boyfriend when I found out I was pregnant.’
“To anyone else out there struggling with similar feelings or thoughts, just remember you’re not the only one. I want you to know you are not alone.”
When you feel like you’re failing at everything
“I feel like other moms out there can make this work. Why am I struggling so much?”
