Sonia Beltz is a former digital editor for Love What Matters based near Dayton, Ohio. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Iowa. In her free time, you can find her writing, reading, or researching random historical facts online. Follow her on Instagram at @skatbel.
“They told me, ‘She’ll grow out of these issues.’ If they didn’t see the potential in our daughter we weren’t having it. She fought like CRAZY to be here, and we weren’t giving up because of a piece of paper.”
“He wouldn’t come to bed. ‘I married you for the wrong reasons.’ In a year I went from a working single mom of 2 to being a married, homeschooling, stay-at-home mom of 4.”
“‘YOU made her this way!’ Dempsey had a strong interest in princesses and sparkly trinkets. She’d put fashion pajama pants on her head to simulate long hair.”
“The nurse told us, ‘We can help the heart patients, not the lung patients.’ The air was knocked out of me. I had to put my emotions aside. Nothing could stop him.”
“As a child, I was scared of everything. I felt on edge about everything. When the effects of cheap vodka flooded over me, all of my fears washed away. I finally felt like I was enough. I felt invincible, and I loved it.”
“It wasn’t something I talked about. It made me feel different, what every child DOESN’T want. I only wanted to play with white dolls with blonde hair. I stopped telling people the truth. I had SO many questions about my identity.”
“My mother was told I died after I was circumcised. She was 13. Lies, secrecy, and betrayal run rampant in the family line. I sat there, stunned. Could this be the link to my past I’d always dreamed of?”
“We were asked to house the baby girl so she could be with her siblings. We were ADAMANT about the ‘temporary’ part. There were dressers in the living room, playpens, cribs and toys everywhere.”
“While in the hospital, I was asked, ‘Are you a gang member?’ I was like, ‘OMG, no! I fought my whole life trying to stay alive!’ My heart was BROKEN.”
“People kept telling me, ‘You’re obsessed! Just trust the doctors.’ But I needed the WHY. Something was going on with my daughter, and I wanted to know WHAT. I’m glad I trusted my gut.“
