“And then, with a deep breath, he handed it to me to be graded. I quickly worked my way through the test and calculated his score. Immediately his eyes filled with tears.”
‘I gave my 10 year old a math test. He spent nearly an hour and used 4 sheets of scratch paper. He worked each problem with intense concentration.’
‘I let out a loud cry and immediately the words ‘I’M GOING TO BE A MOM’ poured out. My husband was in the other room and screamed ‘WHAT!’ We sobbed for hours. We couldn’t believe it.’
“I will never forget the moment our doctor told us. I was terrified what his next response would be. What happened? I broke down in tears. I was a healthy 26 year old. I could not understand.”
‘I heard them bring up me and say, ‘Wow another pregnancy! Geez I hope you guys can afford it.’ He looked over at me while I had tears in my eyes.’
“Then they said, ‘Gosh it must be boring being at home all day, what does she do all day? I guess she’s not going back to work? Must be nice.’ And they giggled to each other with their stupid faces.”
‘To the man in 2D. I don’t know you, but I imagine you saw us. I was pushing a stroller, had a diaper bag on my arm and was also lugging an oxygen machine for my daughter.’
“Not able to hold back tears, I cried my way up the aisle.”
‘I watched him cry through the bus window. The next morning I pulled a pen from my coat pocket, grabbed his wrist, and drew this heart.’
“He crossed the road, climbed the bus steps, and I watched this time as his face appeared in the window. I waited for him to see me, to smile or wave or even to cry, but he never even looked at me. Instead, he looked at his wrist.”
‘This is the face of a momma who had a rough night, and then had a rough morning. Who is having a hard time forgiving herself for yelling. Who feels guilty, but isn’t entirely sure why.’
“Give yourself some grace, change your thoughts from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I will,’ and dry those pretty eyes. You’ve got this.”
‘Bri, the smell is getting worse.’ I open the cabinet under the sink. My dad screams, ‘The house is on fire, we need to get out!’
“All of a sudden, a large cloud of smoke starts creeping in – and fast.”
‘I had never seen my dad cry before. He had already seen my dress, that wasn’t it. It is almost unexplainable.’
“This was one of the most nerve wrecking moments in my life. He kept slowly telling me to ‘breathe.’ I knew this was actually a reminder for himself.”
‘Today is not about what you’ve been through in the past and it’s not about what you may go through in the future. Today is only about today, Finn.’
“I turned to Michael and we were both sobbing, and for some reason, it occurred to me for a second that it seemed really quiet for Disney World. As we turned our heads to the massive line behind us, the entire mass was smiling and wiping tears.”
‘This 3-year-old was kicking and screaming and flopping around. ‘Say something kind to her,’ I thought. But then I thought, ‘No, it’s none of your business. LEAVE THE POOR STRANGER ALONE.”
“She looked up at me, blinked twice, and then visibly melted. Tears started streaming.”
