Posts by: Colin Balfe

Colin Balfe is the Founder and Chief Content Officer of Love What Matters. Colin was inspired to start Love What Matters after his mother passed from Ovarian cancer. Through his grieving process, he saw the need to connect a like minded community around a deeply personal storytelling platform. He's proudest of the communities within LWM, strangers united by powerful and impactful experiences, underserved people connecting around mutual challenges, hopes and dreams. These communities include Adoption, Mental Health, Infertility, Addiction, Grief, Special Needs Parenting, LGBTQ+ and many more.

‘I asked a friend to hold my drink while I went to the restroom and she set the drink down. We always stuck together but my friend went home with a guy, breaking our agreed upon friend code.’

“Finally, after a long ten year battle, and a few amazing people, I urged the police department to re-open my case.”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 10, 2019

‘We all started to notice I was sleeping, a lot. I didn’t feel ‘normal.’ I started college, started dating, and felt like things were starting to fall into place. Oh boy was I wrong.’

“I answer the age-old question of ‘When are you going to have babies?’ with a smile on my face and a reply of, ‘Oh no babies, I have dogs.’ I see the answer disappoints them, but the truth is so much more depressing.”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 10, 2019

‘He started talking to me, his lips were moving but I couldn’t hear any words. Slowly, everything began to get darker until I emerged into complete darkness.’

“‘It makes sense now.’ I asked him what he was talking about. ‘My sister,’ he said. ‘It makes sense why she’s gone. Now we know. We finally have an answer.”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 10, 2019

‘The phone rang with a call that turned my life upside down. It BROKE ME. I thought I had moved on, turns out I was wrong.’

“I naively thought, ‘not us!’ Here we are in the middle of a story I could never have imagined. They were my perfect storm.”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 09, 2019

‘I thought I had a clogged milk duct. ‘Ash, go get it checked out. What will it hurt?’: Mom receives cancer diagnosis after thinking she had a clogged milk duct

“I thought it was a clogged milk duct because milk shot out when they did the mammograms. I received the terrifying phone call nobody ever wants to receive. ‘Are you in a safe place to talk?’ I hung up the phone, losing my breath. ‘Stay with me. Stay right here with me.'”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 09, 2019

‘For over three years we tried to get to you. Appointment after appointment, shot after shot, tear after tear.’

“Right now I’m looking forward to the sleepless nights, the running late to school or practices, the bedtime struggles followed up by sweet prayers, and the constant laundry pile up.”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 09, 2019

‘No one will miss you.’ I said goodbye to my kids. Everything went white.’: Woman thanks husband’s ‘mistress’ for ‘saving her’ after abuser attempts to take her life

“He briefly took his hand off of my throat and forced the barrel into my mouth. This was my gun, and I couldn’t stop him from turning it on me. I said goodbye to my kids, in my head. I thought of them coming downstairs to find me dead. His phone buzzed, and he stopped. His mistress was at the house. MPs, SWAT, NCIS, and a case worker. Every military wife in the neighborhood was outside my home, gawking.”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 08, 2019

‘My healthy, 39-year-old husband said he felt ‘off.’ In the ER the doctor met me in the hall with tears in her eyes.’: Healthy, 39-year-old husband dies suddenly from ‘catastrophic’ tear in aorta

“Yes. He was gone and I had to sign paperwork to take him off life support. My mom showed up and she was hysterical. I thought to myself, ‘pull yourself together, I need you to be strong and support me.’ She immediately pulled me out into the hall and said, ‘Your sister died last night.’ What.”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 08, 2019

‘My world was spinning. How is this possible? He didn’t realize it at the time. His heart was a ticking time bomb.’

“He hadn’t been feeling well. First a case of the flu, then what we thought was walking pneumonia. He ate well, worked out, quit smoking. What had he done wrong to deserve this? Little did we know, the journey was about to begin.”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 08, 2019

‘I’ll catch you.’ My husband was chasing me. It was 28 degrees outside. I ran 2 miles, barefoot, to the police station, for my life.’: Mother finds courage to leave abusive husband after realizing this is ‘not love’

“The next morning, I tried to sit up, and that’s when I knew something had happened. My husband was sleeping like a baby next to me but his knuckles looked bruised and swollen. I scanned the room for my phone, and noticed it placed neatly on his bedside table… only mine was smashed beyond repair.”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 07, 2019