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 excused the thought something was actually wrong. I blamed my husband’s ignorance. What do dad’s know anyway? I just held her earlier.’
“I’ll never forget. It was a breezy April afternoon. I can’t erase it from my memory– the phone call or the panicked voice on the other end. ‘There is something wrong with Avery… You need to get home.’ I had left to run a couple errands. It had been only minutes since I had last seen her.”
‘I asked if she was OK. She smiled through faint tears. She thanked me for giving her these moments back. She told me how lucky I am that I get to do this every single night.’
“She babysat, and SHE thanked ME?!”
‘Mason attempted the choking challenge he saw on social media. It went horribly wrong. Nothing could be done to bring Mason back.’
“You choke yourself to the point of almost passing out, and then stop. It’s supposed to create a type of high. We are devastated.”
‘My Tinder bio was, ‘Just trying to find a Tinder match to get matching tats with.’ Today I was feeling impulsive and actually did it.’: Man shares spontaneous Tinder date story
“She sent me a message asking if I was actually down to get a tattoo…”
‘Yesterday I hired a babysitter so I could cry and eat my Reese’s Pieces in the shower alone. That’s not fine. Can we all be honest? Sometimes things are not fine.’
“‘How are you doing, lately?’ They ask. And most of us stick with, ‘I’m fine.’ My mastectomy is coming up, but I am fine! You can’t pay bills, but you are fine. Her marriage is crumbling, and her family will be devastated. She is fine!”
‘I put my daughter down and never picked her back up.’
“One day, without me realizing it, she got too big. Too big to scoop up. Too big to rest on my hip.”
‘My husband and I reviewed the adoption papers. An hour later, my doctor called. ‘Katie, your pregnancy test came back positive. You’re pregnant!’ I felt the blood drain from my face.’
“Brian lost his mother and the stress of it started causing chest pains. We were dismissed by doctor after doctor, being told it was ‘broken heart syndrome’ brought on by the death of his mother. Finally, one wonderful doctor took him seriously. He could have died.”
‘HE’S FINALLY ON THE PLANE! In desperation, we went to another airline desk to beg for help. She even sat on the floor with him. He was so frightened. He was in a wheelchair due to them medicating him.’
“This is my son, Leo. He has severe autism and the mental capacity of a 3-year-old. This airline refused to let him fly home because he was distressed when they wouldn’t let him have his doll. Police were called, which caused his meltdown.”
‘Not all of us have washboard stomachs in bikinis when their baby is 1-year-old. Some of us still look a pregnant, some of us have muscle separation that won’t heal without surgery. AND THAT IS OK!’
“When I look at my children, I feel invincible. I grew them, I birthed them, and I have the scars to prove it. Talk to yourself as if you’re the most important person in the world, because to little humans, you are.”
‘I’m doing this because I want to impress you.’ I crouched down next to him. ‘You are already stronger than I ever was at your age by just getting up here.’ ‘Really?’ He asked.’
“I was on the top of a waterfall with my 11-year-old son, waiting for him to jump, when he looked like he was about to cry. He made a dozen half starts, but then backed away. My father would’ve told me to toughen up.”