“Suddenly a steamy, hot single dad appeared with an adorable little kindergarten girl ready to meet her teacher. That teacher was me. I don’t know how to describe what I felt when I stared at him, but there was a knowing. A knowing this would be deep, intimate, epic love I had done all the work for. He was different than any other man. He was the one for me, this I knew.”
‘Katie, get off the couch!,’ was the last thing I heard before witnessing the shattering sound of the gun.’: Woman overcomes extreme trauma to marry love of her life
‘We were forced into protective isolation, I was told to stop breastfeeding. Then: ‘Do not kiss your baby, do not allow any visitors, keep her covered.’
“Little did I know, all of that planning would be in vain. Our lives were about to take a turn we never could have planned for.”
‘They tell us a baby boy has been born in Texas, our home state. They don’t know many details, but ask if we would be interested. I cannot imagine what she must be feeling.’
“The next hour is a blur. She has until 12:30 to make her final decision and she is spending the morning cuddling her sweet boy.”
‘There is something wrong. She won’t open her eyes and is very weak.’ I drove to the babysitter’s house like a rocket! I collapsed in tears. Everything was chaos after that.’
“At lunchtime, I received a call no mother should ever receive. Who could be capable of hurting our baby? We trusted everyone around her.”
‘No matter what he says, we’ll be OK.’ He told us we had a .001% chance of conceiving on our own. ‘You’re pregnant, with twins!’: Foster mom becomes pregnant, ‘God doesn’t give you more than you can handle’
“My heart started racing. Why was she calling? ‘Would you be open to the placement of this sweet boy again?’ I blurted, “YES, of course.’ Then I started sobbing. How can I care for a toddler AND twins?”
‘As a little girl, I remember running in the forest over dead bodies, hearing gunshots, and seeing people killed by machetes. I don’t think we ever slept.’: Refugee shares overcoming painful past through ‘kind people’
“There was no looking back. Kids knew to hide, and run as fast as you could, even if you got separated from your parents.”
‘I find myself apologizing a lot lately. ‘Hey, I’m so sorry, can we reschedule?’ ‘Man, I forgot to respond to your text, I’m so sorry.’ I’m saying I’m sorry ALL. THE. TIME.’
“Can I be honest for a second? I don’t want to be apologizing anymore.”
‘Are you sure you want to marry her? She comes from a broken home. Her parents are divorced.’: Woman assures others they are not defined by something that happened in their past
“My heart sank into my stomach as I read those words. They were written in a letter addressed to my soon to be husband.”
‘What’s going on, dear?’ Weeping, I shamefully got in the front seat. The veins in my neck bulging like a hose.’: Woman living in ‘epic bliss’ after overcoming extreme PTSD, ‘I transformed from victim to viking’
“‘Stay with us Katie, stay with us.’ I either had the option of being victim to my trauma or I had to stare at it head on, whatever that meant. I trusted her. I had to put on my big girl panties and fiercely bring light to my inside compass. At a ripe 19-years-old, I wasn’t expecting to be fighting for my life, especially at a random house party.”
‘Every doctor told me, ‘He will be brain damaged. We just have to see how much.’ They wanted to put me under, but I said, ‘If I am put under, I will never wake up.’
“Something felt ‘off.’ She noticed the same thing. Then, things moved quickly. They had never seen this happen.”