Our Stories
This space holds stories shaped by caregiving.
Stories about navigating systems that do not connect.
Stories about love, exhaustion, advocacy, grief, adaptation, humor, survival, and the strange expertise that grows from having to figure things out in real time.
We center the lived experiences of caregivers across complex medical conditions, including the intersecting realities of disability, mental illness, substance use disorder, and the many other circumstances families move through every day.
We believe story can create connection, recognition, and change.
Not through exposure or extraction, but through the act of telling the truth about our own lives.
The stories shared here belong to the people telling them. And the people we love hold their own stories, voices, and sovereignty. We approach that boundary with care and respect.
This space is not about presenting perfect narratives or inspirational endings. It is about making visible what caregiving asks of people and what caregivers know because they have lived it.
If you feel called to share your experience, insight, questions, or perspective, we invite you to add your voice.
Together, we are building a living record of caregiving as human experience — and a deeper understanding of what care, connection, and change can make possible.
Start With What You Want People to Understand
You do not need a polished essay, a complete history, or a tidy conclusion.
You might begin with one moment you cannot stop thinking about, a piece of paperwork that tells an entire story, something you wish a provider had understood, or knowledge you earned the hard way and want someone else to have.
Reaching out does not commit you to publication. We can begin with a private conversation about what you want to share, what should remain yours, whether you want to be identified, and how the people whose lives intersect with yours will be protected.
If there is something you want people to understand, we are listening.
Care, Made Visible: A Fierce Mamas Mayoral Candidate* Questionnaire
Before the 2026 Shelby County mayoral election, Fierce Mamas asked candidates how county government should protect young people in treatment, support caregivers, and improve accountability across mental health, substance use, and youth systems. Mickell Lowery was the only candidate to respond. His answers are published as submitted.
I Bought a Domain Name Because I Couldn’t Sleep
People sometimes ask where the name Fierce Mamas came from. The honest answer is that half of it came from grief. The other half came from defiance. This is the story of the night unbearable love found one small way to move forward.
The Logistics Rhyme
Caring for Virginia Grace and caring for Jack required many of the same skills. Their conditions, needs, and lives were profoundly different. But the logistics rhymed—and the compassion surrounding their care did not.
One Year Later: What Fierce Mamas Taught Me in Its First Year
I began Fierce Mamas with questions I thought I understood. Then other people arrived carrying their own knowledge, histories, losses, and refusals. The questions changed. The work changed. I changed with it.
One Thing Led to Another: ADHD, Addiction, and the Son I Lost
What began as a common ADHD diagnosis led, one small step at a time, to a heartbreaking overdose. My son, Shelby, was more than his struggles — he was gifted, loving, and full of life. This is the story of how support systems failed, how we tried to help, and how we live now with both love and regret.
“Smart Enough to Get It”: How Schools, Services, and Silence Left My Son Adrift
“We are lost at sea in the middle of nowhere, yet anchored, floating on an isolated spot of choppy waters — standards of society showing us we are just not good enough.”
Every Time We Lose a Child, We Have Failed.
Jack didn’t die because he didn’t want recovery. He didn’t die because he was a bad kid. He died because the systems around him—addiction care, mental health care, the medical system, the so-called justice system—were inadequate, uncoordinated, underfunded, and broken.
Got a story? We want to hear it.
Whether it’s raw, messy, unfinished, or full of hard-won wisdom — your voice matters. When we speak the truth about what it really means to raise kids with special needs, we break the silence that keeps us isolated.
👉 Share your story or join our mailing list to stay connected with the Fierce Mamas community.
Together, we’re louder. Stronger. Fiercer.