“Sometimes I spend hours playing with my kids. Other times I am distracted by my phone. Sometimes I have a good hair day and a well-thought-out outfit. Other times (ahem most times) I roll up to school drop off with my hair in a top knot and my shirt on inside out.”
“Two days after the ultrasound, I passed a large clot while at work. I was sure I was miscarrying. All those memories flooded back and I was a bawling mess. We waited the dreaded week to confirm what we knew. Little did we know they would quickly say, ‘There’s your baby.'”
“I knew him through my ex, so I took him off of my social media. That lasted a whole two days. I couldn’t imagine a day in my life without him.”
“‘So, when’s the next one coming?” a loving and well-intentioned family member eagerly asked me, a freshly postpartum mom. I hesitantly looked down at my 3-week-old baby, still squishy and bald, arching her back to ease the pain of her reflux as she insatiably nursed at my breast.”
“My ex-husband and I are divorced, but we are still a family. The concept of a ‘divorced family’ seems like an oxymoron, but it’s how we have chosen to live our lives post-divorce.”
“The plane landed with one extra, especially beautiful, customer onboard.”
“The second you see that plus sign, you’re already planning what life will look like with this child. You imagine who they will look like, what they will grow up to do, even the details of their wedding plays in your head. Myself and countless women know the reality of having this taken away in an instant.”
Like many Wichita area youths, Tracey fell into a life of crime early on. He went to prison for 10 long years, knowing firsthand how difficult it is to stay on track when you’re surrounded by bad influences. That’s why, after he was released, he returned to his hometown to become a good influence for other at-risk children.
“It’s the weight of the next doctor appointment. It’s the weight of new diagnoses added to our plate. It’s the weight of remembering which specialist follow-up is due in which month at which hospital. It’s the weight of am I doing enough for her, what more should I be doing, and why do I feel so alone while I am doing it all?”
“I harbor no ill will. No hard feelings. I get it, this is just the new way of things. But it still hurts, to be on the outside looking in.”
