Amanda Doulos is a digital editor for Love What Matters based in New York City. She will graduate from Binghamton University with a Bachelor of English Literature and Spanish in Spring 2023. She loves staying involved as vice president of the mock trial team and secretary of Spanish Honor Society. In her free time, she loves reading, traveling, and spending time with friends.
“I was the fat girl who hated herself. I’d wear hoodies with my sleeves pulled up in the scorching summers. I thought it was better to pass out from the heat than have someone see my ‘repulsive’ body.”
“She asked us to be Elijah’s parents over a meal. I was scared but determined as I wrote my cell number down on a scrap piece of paper and pushed it across the wooden table.”
“He will be the last thing on your mind when you go to bed Saturday night, and the very first thing on your mind when you wake up Sunday morning.”
“The first few months weren’t always bad, but I felt lost. I was a shell of who I used to be. During all this drama and pain, I failed to get to know our son.”
“I was 30 years old and living with my four children in my mother’s basement. I lost the family I’d grown to love. I’ve lived life with my small family, working every day, paying my mortgage. I did that. I felt fulfilled. I never knew I wasn’t until Amber 2.0 was created.”
“I chose to workout BEFORE going to check on a friend who’d just been in a car accident.”
“Even the pandemic didn’t stop me.”
“I stared at him blankly, a rush of humiliation and shame flooding me. ‘Do you have sexual feelings for each other?’ he demanded. I lied.”
“I sat in my mentor’s classroom, hysterically crying. ‘I’m not straight, I like girls.’ He hugged me and said he accepted me. ‘Your family may not react the same way.’ He wasn’t wrong.”
“I was devastated. I thought all my growth would lead to a healthier marriage. I never could’ve guessed what all of that growth was really preparing me for.”
