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.
‘I held his tiny hand. I knew what was coming. We made the heartbreaking decision and waited for the chaplain arrive.’: Parents ‘devastated’ over loss of son born with Down syndrome, congenital heart defects
“He waited for his dad and I to be able to hold him before he went. I held him as the nurses took the ventilator, with his daddy by his side. I was Saxon’s favorite place to be. I was his safe space. I believe with all my heart, he waited for me.”
‘She’ll march into Kindergarten, without me. I won’t cry.’: Mom realizes the ‘fear’ of her daughter starting school is her own because ‘the world hasn’t gotten to her yet’
“Is she ready for school? Did we do enough? I have first day jitters just thinking about it. But when it comes time to part ways, there will be no tears from either of us.”
‘We are critical of women who wear too much makeup. We are critical of women who are bossy.’: Mom insists it’s time to stop ‘constant criticism’ and ‘encourage instead’
“Anyone else exhausted, feeling like no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get it right? Like everyone is watching, waiting to tear them down? It’s time we stop forming cliques that leave people out, and start forming communities.”
‘This woman looks like crap! Want to intervene?,’ I shouted. Silence. I fell to the ground and cried.’: 25-year-old single mom feels like ‘crap’ after divorce, uses son as motivation to ‘stop pretending’
“How did my life land here? I was 24 years old and divorced. I was a college student and a mother, and suddenly, I was alone. ‘But isn’t it better than before you were divorced?’ is not a consolation. We’re afraid to admit the truth. Some days it’s unbearable. But I’m going to stop pretending.”
She grabbed my finger and squeezed tight. My husband looked up to the monitor. ‘She has no heartbeat, baby!’: Mom pregnant with twins delivers 1-pound baby premature, brother born 11 days later
“I looked up at her doctor and said, ‘She’s gone, isn’t she?’ With tears in his eyes, he shook his head yes.”
‘My hands were shaking as I gripped my son’s tiny hand in the backseat. ‘Just hurry up and get to the hospital.’: Mom’s confusion after ‘idyllic’ newborn’s rare Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia diagnosis
“Talk about nerves. ‘He’s a calm little guy!,’ my OBGYN assured us as they whisked him away to be washed and weighed. It was love at first sight. Then, just a few days before celebrating one month on this earth with our son, we underwent an intense baptism into a new, unimagined kind of parenthood. Our son was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder.”
‘At 6, I learned what pure evil is. I knew something was wrong.’: Abused young woman ‘adopted’ by teacher who ‘actually got to know me’ during traumatic childhood
“My teacher was so nice and friendly. He would talk to me, and actually get to know me. I would go to his office during lunch because I didn’t have friends, money or a lunch to eat. My mom jerked us all the way across the country to live with a man she met on the internet. It took me 2 months to finally save money to go back home, and when I did, I went back to that same high school.”
‘I can’t breathe!’ The medics tried to calm me down. ‘I don’t want to die!’: Woman overcomes severe anxiety, loses 90 pounds after struggle with PCOS, infertility
“One year ago, I had one of the scariest nights of my life. It changed everything. I waited too long to get help, again. My brain was convinced I was having a heart attack, but the medics reassured me I was just having a panic attack. My chest was on fire and my heart felt like it was going to explode.”
‘We need to pray for Stephanie. I heard her marriage is on the rocks.’ : New mom deceived by ‘cunning, smart’ women who leaked her husband’s heart condition to public in ‘gossipy’ way
“I graduated from high school eons ago, and survived the sorority cliques of my college years, so I assumed that meant I was in the clear from cattiness. But a few months into new motherhood, I learned the hard reality that mean girls still exist—they just become mommies too.”
‘I made friends with Ben. He was good looking, had a job, a wife. He looked like he had it all, but Ben tried to commit suicide.’: Woman urges that depression is not just ‘a woman’s problem’
“Ben told me his wife went behind his back and called health professionals. She told his doctor, she let his boss know, she spoke to his family and friends. At first, he was angry with her, but with tears in his eyes he looked at me and said, ‘She went behind my back, but she saved my life.’ And she did.”