“’Maybe this is just what it’s like to have three kids,’ I thought. I cried alone. I pushed my friends away. I couldn’t connect with my kids.”
‘I had everything: 2 healthy boys, a brand new baby girl, a husband, a room full of baby gifts. I was unbelievably grateful. I was unbelievably satisfied. But I wasn’t happy.’
‘We’d finally decided to tie the knot. One year and 6 days later, he was dead. There were no warning signs, just a phone call telling me my husband – who I’d spoken to only hours ago – had died.’
“There was no accident, no cancer diagnosis, nothing amiss beyond what the doctors said was the flu.”
‘A mom and her son who were strangers to me walked up where I was waiting for Sam to finish tutoring. I went over to them, and peeked in the windows.’
“I almost stayed in my van. I was so close, because staying where you are is the easy choice isn’t it? But I heard a whisper, so I got out.”
‘It isn’t fair, she couldn’t take care of us.’ These were the words spoken by one of my kiddos as they broke down at the news their biological sister would be returned to their birth mom.
“‘Will she be back?’ My heart broke. ‘No, she won’t be.’ They all just sat there. The greatest tragedy was the fact my oldest 3 were getting used to losing people they loved.”
‘We surprised mom and dad with someone they love. She wasn’t looking at him, but she was smiling. She was giggling. And then it happened – she started humming.’
“We were beside ourselves with the happiness he was bringing her and how she was letting him, and all of us know, she knew he was there. She knew who he was. We soaked it in, knowing it all may be fleeting.”
‘It’s been a long day. She doesn’t feel good. She is exhausted. And, do you know what she needs from you? She needs you to HUG HER.’
“It is not lost on me that, for you, it has been a long day too. But, you asked for this. You wanted this. You must have known this is what it would be like. So, why are you complaining?”
‘He woke up in silence and called my name. It was his way of saying ‘goodbye.’ I made my way through the IV’s and monitors and laid next to him.’: Widow urges ‘cling fiercely’ to those moments they showed how much they loved you
“When he was admitted into the hospital, I wanted to be there in the middle of the night if he needed me. One night, he did.”
‘Today I learned I am raising the kind of kid who sees a waitress drop the stack of plates and cutlery she’s carrying, and leaps out of his seat to help her pick them up.’
“I don’t care that he gets good grades. I don’t care whether or not he is popular. I don’t care whether or not he is talented.”
It would be 23 months of long, intensive research, intensive therapies 4 days a week, trial and error, and prayers before I heard my son finally say ‘mama.’
“We were told in the beginning that his autism was severe, he would never talk, and would likely be completely dependent on us for everything.”
‘Look, I have this REALLY dumb idea.’: Wife plans EPIC dinosaur announcement after miscarriage, announces 5th child
“I suffered a total miscarriage at home and we lost the baby. We were heartbroken…. and it took us some time to get past the loss of our baby, but we knew if it were meant to be, we would have another.”