“I would witness dual sides of his personality. One would be full of love and laughter as a family man and the other would be animalistic and cruel. I felt like his prey. An outsider greatly misunderstood. I began to question whether or not it was my fault and if I’d somehow given him the wrong impression. I was sworn to secrecy.”
“My dad stares off into the distance as he tries to figure out how it all came to this. Why is the woman he loves here, but gone?”
“I didn’t think someone like her would be willing to love someone like me. But I was wrong.”
“I went to find our waitress to ask if she could please bring my food out in a To-go box because we were going out to sit in the car…”
“My worth is not defined in the mean things my 3-year-old’s say to me, but the ‘I don’t love you’s’ hurt.”
“And then it dawned on me: This. This is why moms are so exhausted.”
“I’d snort a bunch of pills before a party, drink, pass out, and wake up completely unaware of what happened. My boyfriend was suspicious, but I covered up my drug use. That was before the needle. I said I’d never use one. Needles were for junkies, and I was not that. But my dealer shot me up. It was the most amazing, intense rush of warm, pure happiness I’d ever experienced, and I’d chase that feeling for years. There are so many times I should’ve been arrested, should’ve overdosed, should’ve died, but I didn’t.”
“I was married young. I was pregnant soon after. I followed my husband’s career and livelihood. And all I keep hearing is: ‘Well, what are you going to make of this, Wendy?'”
“My granddaughter, thank God she’s still here. As my daughter tried to protect the kids, she lost her life. We consider her a hero.”
“There was NO way I was having a discussion with him about the things I should know before he dies because there was NO way I was going to make him feel like I was planning his death.”
