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 had visions of these lovely children who would follow the rules. Turns out, these little people don’t really care much about my vision.’: Mom learns important lesson about children, ‘I’m not in control’
“I picked up a million shoes and socks and empty wrappers and stray toys from the floor then washed breakfast dishes and gathered clothes that are sitting BESIDE the hamper to shove into the washer. And my eyes came to rest on the empty toilet paper roll.”
‘I was prepared for the hurts that call for a kiss and cuddle. I wasn’t prepared for the hurts I couldn’t fix.’: Mom talks parenting during trauma, ‘It isn’t something you can navigate, it is theirs’
“I thought I could protect my child well enough. A trusted big person took advantage of them.”
‘He screamed in frustration and my heart broke into a thousand pieces. ‘It won’t be like this forever.’: Mom shares difficulty explaining quarantine to her child, ‘How is he expected to understand?’
“’Mommy, I’m just sad and don’t know why.’ My heart broke for him. There were no goodbyes.”
‘I watched more than a few of my friends commenting negatively on how they look now. Girl, stop glorifying your past self just for being skinnier.’: Woman reminds us ‘comparison is the thief of joy’
“Maybe your waistline grew this past decade (GUILTY, FRIEND), but so did your family. I fear for a time when my daughter would choose to comment only on her WEIGHT in her joyful photos. People preach about the importance of self-love and ignore the elephant in the room.”
‘His skin crawls, he can’t communicate, and he never sleeps. I was going to ‘fix’ my son, it would not win.’: Mom of Autistic son details acceptance of his diagnosis; ‘I’m proud of him’
“I isolated myself and refused to leave the apartment. I canceled therapies, stopped cleaning and cooking, sobbed, and threw things. I finally emerged from the fog.”
‘I left widow groups because my loss doesn’t get compassion like others.’: Woman reflects on overdose awareness day, ‘I loved him and he loved me’
“People ask me all the time if I knew. What I knew was that I loved him. I spend a lot of time asking who is to blame.”
‘Then cancer struck. It’s hard to be single in a sea of married people. Friends dragged me to the next step.’: Widow is grateful for ‘friend family’ who carry her through life
“They stand by me through the hardest times of my life. They have most recently watched me lose myself in someone who was not worthy of my time. They include us in family gatherings, and their husbands step up when my daughter needs a father figure in her life.”
‘He was 9 years older. I thought he was my everything. As soon as I hit the top of the stairs, my heart started racing. ‘I love you. Something is wrong.’: Woman with Tachycardia starts weight loss journey
“I started sweating and it didn’t stop. I should have called 911 but I called my husband. I told him I loved him and something was wrong. May 20th was the day my life changed forever. I never believed I was allowed to smile or be happy because no one was ever nice to me.”
‘My husband called me at work. I went completely numb. I remember saying, ‘I love you, brother.’: Woman loses brother to suicide, ‘He had such a pure heart’
“The hospital gave us a Build-A-Bear which plays your recorded heartbeat when you squeeze it – Alivia loves to squeeze it and tell us she is hugging Uncle Corey.”
‘Somewhere inside of you is a little girl who wonders at the grown-up you’ve become, someone who is fierce and ready to take on the world.’: Woman thankful for her daughter, ‘she is teaching me in the midst of raising her’
“There have been times you have said ‘no’ when you wanted to say ‘yes.’ I have seen this photo before and it always takes me back and makes me think.”