“In 4 short years, I’d been removed at birth from my mother, placed into foster care, reunified with my birth father, and then placed back into foster care. I’d experienced family separation, failed reunification, abuse, neglect, and had already been named, renamed, and named again.”
“It’s popular right now to ‘raise kind humans’ and to be inclusive— but true inclusivity means learning about people who are different from us and letting it change the way we live.”
“Adoption is a calling, not a backup plan.”
“Being a mama is questioning every decision made. Being a mama is loving so hard it leaves an ache in your heart. Being a mama is beautiful and brutal.”
“It’s who I am. It’s who I will always be. I’m a mom who worries…and I can’t help it.”
“As a mom of three under three, I did what many mothers before me have done: put my wants and needs in the back seat and buckled them up. I got through each day, crying from one obstacle after another and wondering if I’d ever be able to shower without hearing a baby cry or eat a hot meal again. I was ready to dot the I’s and cross the T’s on a contract to stab my eyes with a fork daily if it meant I was able to feel like a person again.”
“I hope she knows it is a privilege to watch her grow, even though it also breaks my heart. I hope she knows that with every pain, tear, and heartbreak she experiences, I feel it a thousandfold. I hope she knows that she is loved, beyond measure and beyond words.”
“I won’t treat you like a princess forever. Because soon, you’ll be the queen.”
“We completely discredit this mother if we disregard the intent behind her worry. We label her a perfectionist. But the fear of getting it wrong, their children missing out, their needs not being met… it’s the glue keeping it ALL running smoothly.”
“I’ve lost her many times over the years, not just on the day she died. But I’ve also found her, too.”
