“She is leaving everything she grew to love. Everything she wanted her life to be. Everything we built. Carefully, I go into her bedroom. Everything is gone now; the toys, the clothes, the jewelry box with the little ballerina. I sit on the bed and recall the conversations, the questions, the hugs given. And slowly, through hot salty tears, I realize I am smiling.”
“‘Do you know this woman?’ The 11-year-old shook his head, no.”
“It doesn’t have to be a chore. The cleaning, the mundane daily master list… that’s the experience.”
“It didn’t hit me when my heart rate was at 40 bpm and the doctor called cardiology in a panic. Or when I was freezing cold in the summer heat. Or when I woke up at 3 a.m. every morning, dripping in sweat. I finally realized something was wrong when I stopped loving my dog.”
“When I became a mom, I was shocked by the amount of unsolicited advice I received. The mommy shaming train took off the second I got pregnant.”
“I knew that moving his bedroom was a risk to my ‘parent of the year’ title, but I needed to test the waters of the ‘handling change’ part of his brain.”
“We had so many misassumptions of ‘what we wanted’ going into the process. We were nervous, excited, and completely clueless.”
“‘At least you know she’ll be right-handed!’ the nurse joked. There was a wave of grief when I realized someone may pull back their outstretched hand when her nubbins reached for it. Education is the key out of the shadows.”
“Grief comes from love. If we never had to love, we wouldn’t miss it. Celebrate the awesome beauty, but don’t diminish the pain.”
“I’ll do my best to relax, and appreciate who you are in this moment. And I’ll try not to worry about everything that’s calling me away from you. Because tomorrow you’ll be bigger, and I don’t want to miss today.”
