LJ Herman is a former editor at Love What Matters and lives in Colorado. LJ is a concert, ticket and technology enthusiast. He has seen the Dave Mathews Band over one hundred times and counting.
‘He hands me a check. I walk out to the car and see he put ‘Kate.’ I cried. I looked back and really looked at him. So tiny and frail. I told him I preferred ‘butthole.’: Woman shares ‘drive-thru friendship’ story of kindness
“He wouldn’t look at me, he would hand me money and say he wanted a six pack of Natty. He handed me a debit card and a grocery list and told us we could spend $20 on ourselves. I jumped for joy as soon as I shut the window. A couple hair cuts later, he hands me a check.”
‘I remember being ripped open. ‘Let me tell him I love him. Just once.’ I can hear the final scream.’: New mom battles traumatic labor and postpartum depression, ‘Some stories don’t have happy endings’
“Tears were toppling from my unmoving gaze, the sound of them dripping onto the pillow beneath me was deafening. ‘Please just let me see his face. I can still feel the panic washing over me as my husband left my side. I can still hear the final scream hanging in the sterile air.”
‘They whine because they FEEL SAFE. It’s the silent ones I worry about. They are the ones who don’t feel safe.’: Former social worker says, ‘Imagine all the times you felt too scared to speak up’
“Not the shy ones or the quiet ones. The ones who were too scared to speak up.”
‘I received a note stating, ‘A rose for every year.’ On my right wrist says, ‘Love Dad.’: Daughter gets tattoo in honor of late father, ‘It’s a little reminder he’s always in my heart’
“His breathing declined fast. We got a call saying, ‘Come right over, it’s not good.’ It was my daughter’s birthday. I kept all the cards he used to write me.”
‘She didn’t even say hello. ‘I hate to be the one to tell you this.’ I was too shocked to cry. What if he gets tired of my ‘sick’ body?’: Newlywed diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, beats it twice, ‘We find ways to celebrate’
“How was I supposed to tell him he married a sick woman instead of a healthy one? I looked at him and he knew. He just knew. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t have to.”
‘She looks at her like she holds all of the secrets to the world. She had a 10% chance of making it. I begged God for time together.’: Woman births baby with Trisomy 18, ‘I never believed in soulmates until then’
“We made a bear with her voice saying, ‘I love you, Charlotte.’ She was scared Charlotte would forget the sound of her voice. I will never forget the look on her face when my friend dropped her off.”
‘I cried every day last week. Some days I have it together. I pat myself on the back. Most days I feel like I’m falling apart.’: Woman urges ‘it’s okay to ask for help’
“Shove a corn dog in the microwave, let my child play for hours on the iPad. At this point, I don’t care…as long as they give me five minutes of silence. I think a lot of us are in the same boat.”
‘Frankly, I was about to pull a Jesus at the Marketplace and send tables flying. Parents, we have to LOWER OUR STANDARDS.’: Mom shares act of ‘grace’ while out with family, urges ‘pay it forward’
“‘Great idea, hon. Let him eat on the filthy restaurant floor!’ A woman at the table behind us turned around in her seat. She was definitely preparing to make some commentary, and my stomach dropped a little. But then she smiled.”
‘You do you and I’ll do me.’ My child, with the crap lungs and fragile liver, will pay the price.’: Mom with ‘forgotten child’ discusses selfishness in pandemic, ‘We expected nothing less’
“We’ve seen countless rooms at children’s hospitals over the last few years, because the ‘little cough’ you sent your kid to school with landed mine in the hospital, unable to breathe on her own. I have a forgotten child.”
‘There I stood, bawling in a Christmas aisle at Hobby Lobby. 2020 has brought us nothing but hurt and I’m ready for my favorite time of year.’ Woman says ‘once we choose hope, anything is possible’
“I said to my husband tonight, ‘I have to tell you something.’ I stood right in front of these trees and started crying when I heard the acoustic version of ‘O’ Holy Night’ playing over the speakers.”