“A man approached us. My Shoeshine Boy flinched. I saw money change hands. ‘Why did you do that?’ I asked. ‘For protection.’ His face crumpled. ‘He is with me,’ I boomed. Then Mama showed up at my door. ‘Even if it is only for a few months. Show him how to change his life.’ I felt her words like a slap in the face.”
“Our 15-year-old daughter Helena came out to us as gay. It wasn’t a surprise to us. Long ago we thought being gay was sinful and wrong. Let us be clear: WE WERE WRONG. Jeremy and I love who our daughter is and someday, when she is ready, we will love who she loves because she loves them.”
“‘Dear excited pregnant mom, you think you’re tired now? Just wait until your baby won’t sleep, your nipples ache, and you fight with your husband nonstop. You’ll probably get depressed, never get your body back, your house will always be a disaster, and your social life with disappear.’ Why is this the basic ‘welcome to motherhood’ letter being sent out? I received it. Many of my friends did. I suspect you did, too.”
“They were neighbors, classmates since kindergarten. As a father, you cross your fingers teenage boys and men in her life will respect and protect her. She didn’t know it, but 6,000 miles away, tragedy would strike and change her life forever.”
“They tried to run an IV through my swollen, bruised hands. I nearly passed out. I remember someone slapping my cheek a little. I was completely naked on the table, shaking uncontrollably. We heard the doctor say, ‘Baby.’ There was no crying, no sound at all. The first time we got to hold him was also the last.”
“My entire future was dark. How was I going to keep living when my baby died? We were always waiting to find out if our baby would die and now we were waiting to find out if we’d have a baby that would live. That moment was when the world stood still. We were pregnant for the fourth time.”
“Sometimes motherhood can be a lot. Sometimes marriage can be a lot. Sometimes a career can be a lot. And sometimes? Sometimes it just feels like a lot all at once.”
“I will never forget our transfer day. She told me, ‘Today is so hard. This is the moment I have to accept the fact I will never carry my own baby.’ Those words hit me hard. 15 weeks in, I began having horrible headaches. I knew it wasn’t just pregnancy paranoia. I called the Intended Mom at 2 a.m. to get permission to remove her baby from my body. There was no heartbeat. Her journey ended with me. I knew I couldn’t give up.”
“Every time people saw me, there was another new bruise or broken bone. The night before Johnny gave me some meth and pills, CPS said they had to come and do an assessment. He immediately told the worker I had been ‘up doing drugs all night.’ That night was the beginning of the end.”
“I got excited at the idea of one more child. Then the doctor told me, ‘Time is of the essence for you. It seems the kidney isn’t here.’ Now you might be asking, what about the pee? We lost his heartbeat. They couldn’t get it back. My doctor looked me in the eye. ‘We need to get him out, NOW.'”
