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.
‘It’s the mom who won’t look at you because she’s afraid she will say something stupid. It’s the girl who sends 50 text messages in 1 hour because her thoughts tell her you don’t like her.’
“The photo on the right was a week after I got out of psych ward that I posted to social media with a hashtag #happy.”
Please Stop Telling Me How I Should Celebrate Christmas
“If I want to scurry around every morning, freaking out about forgetting to move the darn elf the night before, and panicking that I’m going to get caught by my 7-year-old while trying to place him in a new spot…that’s my choice. If I want to sing ‘Baby it’s Cold Outside’ while sipping egg nog in front of the fire, next to my handsy husband… don’t be concerned for me.”
‘I yelled upstairs for Carson and his brother to come eat. Carson did not answer. This is the second my whole world turned upside down. I screamed. My whole family rushed upstairs.’: Mom loses son to ‘pass out challenge’
“He had recently started taking gummy vitamins and drinking 2-3 glassed of milk each day so he could ‘buff up his bones.’ In that conversation he mentioned the ‘pass out challenge,’ but he did not elaborate, and with much regret, neither did I.”
‘I was the only one that could protect her, I was the only one that could take care of her, I was the only one that really loved her.’: Sisters fight to stay together as they transition through different foster homes
“Two ladies were standing in the doorway. I questioned how they found out. My father was going to be so angry. I screamed, ‘Where are you taking my sister?!’ Why were they doing this? She was all I had.”
‘I was tired. I was irritated. I sent my husband a text. I was fed up with how much he works, and with all I have to do every day by myself.’: Wife realizes she should really feel ‘thankful’ for husband
“The full-time job, cooking dinner, bathing kids, weekend trips without him, keeping up a home. You name it, I was resenting it. Then this happened.”
18 Things I Learned About Life After My Grandfather’s Death
“Say the nice stuff, the uplifting stuff, the encouraging stuff, the emotional stuff. Pick up the phone. Start texting. Drive to their house.”
‘Mommy, when will I have a sister?,’ she asked. As my eyes welled up with tears, I said, ‘I don’t know honey. You’ll have to talk to God about that.’
“Although I was pregnant with what I believed to be a baby girl, I knew I wouldn’t be for much longer. Shortly before dropping my daughter off at school that morning, my water had broken.”
‘I’m about to share a coveted family secret with you. With ears prone to infections and broken eardrums, I use this all the time.’
“Your child ever wake up screaming in pain of an ear infection? Because it takes 30 minutes for pain meds to kick in, this is the handiest trick you will ever learn.”
‘To the 18 year old kid I stopped, you were minutes away from an unspeakable Christmas tragedy. If not only killing yourself, you were on your way to killing an innocent person.’: Police officer pens letter on public safety
“You said you didn’t realize how fast you were going. That’s a lie. You were scared when I stopped you. You were visibly shaking and breathing hard. Unfortunately, you were scared for the wrong reason.”
‘I have no—I mean NO—idea what I want. When I’m with my kids, I crave alone time. When we’re together as a family, I wish it were just my husband and me.’
“Anyone else? Just me? I don’t want to be discontent. I don’t want to accept my heart’s crummy tendency as normal.”