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.
‘Mom, why are you keeping a homework assignment?’ I had to sit facing her. I wanted her to know I wasn’t afraid.’ Mom shares grief journey after losing daughter to cancer, ‘We’re going to be okay’
“We walk in the room, and stand quietly. I start to cry. Well, that was fast. One outfit sends you spinning into a memory. We had stopped at a light and flagged down a police officer to escort us. She was bleeding everywhere. The outfit was ruined.”
‘I was a single mom with 2 little girls. Out of nowhere, this man walks into my life. What did HE truly want? Yes, he is a great man.’: Wife shares appreciation for husband’s sacrifices
“When I met him, he had a truck. A truck he loved and worked hard for. He traded it in for a family car. I didn’t ask him to. He just did it. It also tells me we are in a new phase of life. This man has been handed NOTHING.”
‘300 plus families passed on a baby boy.’ What would happen to my son? ‘Are you interested in special needs adoption?’: Moms discuss open adoption journeys, ‘We really are a family’
“MOM is in there nursing the baby.’ What? I WAS the mom! I just wanted to know how my son was. I was so angry at her ex-husband for leaving. My trust had been rocked. When Noah’s first birthday was coming up, we decided to meet.”
‘Two kids, that was our plan. I expected a ‘NO WAY!’ But he started talking about it before I did.’: Family adopts after hosting foster child, ‘He was meant to be here’
“Our kids tried to fight back tears. ‘Will we see him again?’ You’d have thought the 3 of them had been brothers since birth. Nothing prepared me to watch him get on a plane, not knowing if we’d ever talk to him again.”
‘Nobody wants a woman with a handicapped child.’ Stories of affairs started. We both chose to hold on tight.’: Single, special needs mom finds true love, ‘He is my best friend’
“My son is 3 year-old trapped in a 20 year-old body. I had to care for him myself. Then Victor came to paint my kitchen. We talked for hours on end. Our able-bodied children disowned us. But Victor wanted to take care of me.”
‘She is my BABY! You can’t take her!’ I felt like I was being choked. We knew we had to do something.’: Mom writes emotional letter to foster baby, ‘I won’t ever forget you’
“’Is your family open to adoption?’ My heart felt so FULL! For that time, you were ‘OURS.’ Then, one day it all came crashing down. It was like a nightmare. ‘By the way, I’m going to come and pick the baby up tomorrow.’”
‘His only worldly belongings were engulfed in flames. I was worried about where I stuffed the karate coupon.’: After encounter with neighbor, woman urges others to share ‘love and grace’
“I was traveling down the street, unaware of the great number of things happening around me. I was still completely wrapped up in myself. He was standing out front. The look of heartbreak and defeat sent my heart deep into my stomach. I knew him but I didn’t know his name.”
‘I’ve been the girl who didn’t fit in. I’m too much for some people and not enough for others. I’ve been the girl who wondered if she’d make it, and the girl who did.’: Mom loves who she is, ‘I won’t change for anyone’
“I’m the girl who is on time for this but late for that, and I’ll probably stop for an overpriced iced coffee on the way. I’m moody in the morning and in my best spirits when I know it’s Friday. I’m too tall for high heels and too short to reach the diapers on the top shelf at Walmart. I’m still not skinny enough to fit inside that crack between the washer and dryer. I’m that girl.”
‘Wedding rings are a symbol of ownership. We don’t wear them. I don’t identify with the word ‘wife.’: Married woman talks terms of marriage, ‘We are in a partnership’
“I am a fully committed feminist, and will kill a bug if I need to. He doesn’t determine my happiness. The husband is the boss, the father gives away the daughter. I don’t identify with any of it.”
‘I think my water broke!’ It was a dark, thick blood, flowing out of me. They worried I’d birth in the helicopter.’: Woman suffers placental abruption in traumatic childbirth, ‘I thank God she’s ok’
“I was bawling my eyes out, thinking, ‘No, no. My baby is gone.’ I could feel panic in the room. There were probably 20 people rushing around, getting me prepped. Half were for me, and half were for the baby when she was born.”