“I wanted my baby so badly. I wanted his ten little toes. I wanted to see those blue eyes and the thick black hair he had to have. But then I thought of him watching me waste away as I watched my own father waste away, knowing I had chosen the same fate for him.”
“I want to show everyone newly diagnosed, there is life after cancer. It is possible to survive, regardless of a poor prognosis. Hold on to hope, believe in miracles, and look for things in life that make you happy.”
“Society has decided what I can and can’t do. Society has decided I am a fragile creature incapable of looking out for myself. We are yearning to be heard and understood. Instead of looking to us for inspiration, why not find ways to empower us?”
“My husband comes home. I vaguely remember saying I had interesting news. He says to me, ‘What news?’ I go, ‘I’M PREGNANT.’ Husband looks at me, hugs me, and says, ‘OK! We are having a kid!’ I then say, ‘BUT it’s identical twins.’ Husband says, ‘Oh sh*t.'”
“When you end your 7-year relationship, call off your wedding a month before the date, drop 80 pounds, pack your entire life into 2 suitcases, and start traveling the world solo. Sometimes, getting unstuck involves being uncomfortable and embracing uncertainty.”
“I’d racked my brain for all the reasons she was asking. Was she hoping for a different kind of connection than with her autistic brother? A different kind of play experience with her new sibling? Tears welled in my eyes, moved by her matter-of-fact, whole-hearted acceptance.”
“Throughout the whole relationship, I didn’t realize I was experiencing domestic abuse. I was blamed and told it was my fault. Now I know it wasn’t.”
“I was a walking skeleton. I was ashamed to show him my body. He took me to the gym, but only under one condition — I would eat.”
“I thought I could fly away from my eating disorder. Maybe, just maybe, I would step off the plane and the anorexia would run. But instead, the very opposite happened. I came as close as I ever had been to my eating disorder, face-to-face, and I felt my world crumble.”
“I lost the ability to walk; I couldn’t stand more than 10 minutes without passing out. I couldn’t eat without severe pain, and my brain felt like it was constantly trying to come out of my eyes. My body found new levels of fatigue, leaving me bedridden most days. The day I brought Violet home, I had no idea the potential contained in this little ball of energy.”
