Love What Matters

‘I’ve never seen a more skittish, petrified dog. We wondered if we’d bit off more than we could chew.’: Mom shares touching story rehabilitating traumatized rescue dog

“The first day home was heartbreaking. He was so scared he wouldn’t go to the bathroom. He hid in his kennel and refused to eat or drink.”

‘I’d wake up and cry in the mirror, ‘I’m not drinking anymore.’ Then I’d grab the whiskey, throw up, and light a cigarette.’: Man 19 years sober after ferocious battle with addiction

“I just turned 50 and I have more energy than I did when I was 25, drunk and stoned. I wouldn’t trade any of my difficult sober times for my best days drunk and stoned.”

Woman With No Prior Experience Becomes Ballerina At 25, Proves You Can Do Anything You Set Your Mind To

“Studios, dancers, and choreographers uphold outdated ideas about what a ballerina can and should look like. All this being said, I’ve learned that even though I may not be the ‘typical’ ballerina, I can still be a ballerina.”

To The Rest Of The World You May Just Be A Mother, But To Your Kids, You Are Their Entire World

“You rub your children’s backs when they’re sick, like a nurse.⁣⁣ You explain right from wrong, like a teacher.⁣⁣ You listen and help them cool down, like a therapist.⁣⁣ You prepare meals just how they like them, like a chef.⁣⁣ You play make-believe, like an entertainer.⁣⁣”

Teen Donates Thousands Of Books To Pediatric Cancer Patients To Help Brighten Their Day

“I hope it makes a child smile, even if it’s just for a few seconds when they rip open the sparkly wrapping paper or skim through the pictures of a brand new book. I hope it makes their day a tiny bit better.”

‘My sweet little chatterley STOPPED TALKING. And it almost killed me.’: Mom provides hope for parents of teens, ‘they won’t stay silent forever’

“To the moms whose kids have pushed them away, who have stopped talking, who are in full drift mode right now… HOLD ON.”

‘Either you get your sh*t together or I am taking your daughter.’ Without hesitation, I replied, ‘Help me.’: Single mom candidly details her sobriety journey

“My face was in the toilet for the entire day. I was crying to any god out there to hear me, anyone at all. ‘Take it away or kill me. Either way I can’t do it anymore.'”

‘Hey girl! Are you interested in a 1-year-old boy?’ We’d been told connection would take time, but he was instantly one of us.’: Mom shares foster care journey after suffering secondary infertility

“Will they be okay adjusting to sharing us? Will my kids be okay if we have to say goodbye? We aren’t special. We aren’t brave. We just proceed with love every day and take the days one at a time.”

Yes, Grief Can Make Other Trauma Hurt More

“She betrayed me in a way I could not imagine. In the blink of an eye, my best friend became a person I did not know. While she was running amuck doing damage to the people she feigned to love, I was hit, not just by a general feeling of disgust and betrayal, but by grief. And not necessarily about her.”

‘How am I supposed to do this? How am I supposed to live without you?’ Every day I expected him to walk in the door.’: Young widow shares heartbreaking loss, grief journey

“‘Joie, are you sitting down?’ My heart knew the gusts of strong wind and rainbows I had seen everywhere over the last several days were warnings the next few minutes would teach me the meaning of anguish.”

Meet The Twins Walking Across All 50 States To Raise Awareness About The Broken Foster Care System

“Oftentimes, people aren’t willing to walk the extra mile for kids in foster care. We want to show every kid that we’re willing to, and shine a light on what’s happening in the system.”

‘I want you to adopt us.’ It wouldn’t be easy, but she was worth fighting for.’: Mom adopts stepdaughters into forever family

“Emmy decided that day I was going be known as ‘Mom’ and not ‘Melissa’ anymore.”

‘At the store, I opened a message about a pair of siblings in another city who needed a forever family.’: Mom shares journey to adopting siblings from foster care

“The deadline to apply was the very next day. I told my husband, ‘Tell me one reason why we shouldn’t do this.’ There was a long pause. Neither of us could think of anything. We called the social worker and nervously and excitedly told her, ‘Yes!'”

‘This amazing, selfless birth mother. We owe her everything.’: Infertility warrior shares journey to adopting boy into forever family

“After years of infertility, we walked into the delivery room and saw our son sleeping in his little crib. The joy I felt overshadowed all the despair. I cannot describe it; I felt like my heart was going to explode and I just cried. I was finally a mother.”

‘You may have a medical certificate, but you don’t have a certificate in me.’: Woman with rare disease pleas for doctors’ compassion, trust

“There are so many conditions out there and it’s impossible to know how to respond to them all, but patience, kindness, compassion, and a belief in your patient is a good place to start.”

‘One day, I woke up and said, ‘I’m so done with this.’ If death didn’t want me, maybe it was time to give life another chance.’: Woman shares anorexia recovery journey, now helps others

“With each new test result, my parents would sigh, and I could feel the hope leaving their bodies with each of these breaths. I saw them cry, almost daily, until it seemed their tears had run dry. And I think it’s only then it really sank in… they had given up hope.”

‘Delivering chocolate cake wasn’t on my to-do list, but I couldn’t have chosen a better way to use my 12 minutes.’: Woman shares importance of small acts of kindness

“I used to think to show someone I cared I had to go all out. That a kind gesture needed to reflect a lot of time or money or be Instagram-able in order to be truly meaningful. But guess what? People just long to be thought of.”

5 Things Co-Parenting Is Not

“It all stops being fun and games when one or more people decide to take it upon themselves to play judge, jury, and executioner. Things get complicated, high conflict personalities flare, resentments resurface, and we’re back at ground zero.”

5 Simple Changes To Immediately Improve Your Marriage

“After years of trial and error, I can confidently say I have stumbled upon a few ‘quick fixes’ that almost instantly made my marriage better.”

‘I told the operator my husband was in anaphylactic shock from a bee sting and to come immediately.’: Widowed mother shares journey to fulfilling life after tragic loss

“During the car ride to the hospital, I prayed harder than I’d ever prayed for Ryan’s heart to start beating again. I didn’t know what I was praying for, being completely ignorant to the consequences of an individual being deprived of oxygen for so long.”

I Met My Father For The First Time In My Late 30s

“My dad had a massive heart attack. I remember thinking I may never get to meet this man, and if I didn’t in this lifetime, I didn’t think I’d ever truly be OK. I packed a few things and jumped in the car.”

couple in a hospital bed holding their baby, couple standing in front of a brick wall with their baby

‘She was born at 22 weeks and 1 day, so by hospital policy, they refused any life-saving measures.’: Bereaved mom shares grief journey, spreads kindness in daughter’s honor

“I dropped to my knees, tears pouring down my cheeks. I couldn’t breathe. When my husband came through the door, I ran to him with pure excitement. This was it. We were finally going to be parents and I was on cloud 9!”