“The next thing I knew I felt like I was drowning. I could hear codes being called as my birth got harder to take.‘He’s not fatal, but we have no idea what’s wrong.’ He had 10 fingers and 10 toes, but they were fused together. A first-time mom, I feared I was going to break him. Every irrational fear went through my mind.”
“You’re probably wondering where that girl went that you married, and under her matted bun hair, tired eyes and cheese-stained clothes, she’s there. You probably miss her, and I do too. That’s why I need you to understand what I’m about to say.”
“He was just gone. I came home one night to the apartment my boyfriend and I shared to find everything was missing. He terminated our lease and emptied our joint bank account. I had less than a month to find a new place to live, no savings, and I was having surgery in a week. I didn’t think I could go on without him.”
“I ran into friends at the grocery store, and they asked me if I’d lost my job. All of it was maddening.”
“One morning, a woman came in swiftly wearing a leopard blouse and clicking her heels. She walked right over to me. ‘Sorry for the bad news,’ she said and walked away. What bad news?! I wasn’t informed of any bad news! I broke out into tears as she exited. During the gender reveal, I was hiding this secret while watching my mom cut into our cake. I was giving them a broken baby.”
“We were contacted by several women. Then I got a Facebook message from a woman who had seen our post.”
“We were prepared to keep pushing until we were satisfied! Then she paused. ‘Unfortunately I have something else very important to tell you.’ I looked over at Dane, unable to speak. His face was so pale I thought he was going to pass out. My heart now felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.”
“She replied ‘Oh my god… it is unbelievable they let people like you work in a place like this! I want someone else to serve me, someone normal.’ I returned to school after going under the knife. ‘Are you thinking about a career in porn? You look like a porn star now,’ a boy said. I was shocked. I decided it was time to finally fight back.”
“I stood outside the children’s store, my hands shaking as my heart started racing. I took a deep breath, wiped away my tears, and put on a brave face as I walked inside. I handed the outfit to my mother and told her I had to leave, the heartache proved too much.”
“Getting a bag of clothes from another mom is like she’s giving you a piece of her heart. That little dinosaur t-shirt she packs in a bag to give to you reminds her of the adventures her little one had in it. They hold memories, and they hold love.”
