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 think I just bought a grief chair. I have a feeling it might become something one day.’: Woman’s impromptu purchase becomes symbolic of her grief after losing brother.
“I noticed this ugly wooden chair amongst some of the furniture for sale. I guess it just looked the way I felt, on the verge of snapping in some places. Much like grief, I was just going to have to live with this chair for a while. It’s become such a fitting analogy. At the end of the day, it was still just a broken place to sit.”
‘If you’re there, I need you to wake up. Your boys need you. Tell God you’re not ready.’ His eyelids fluttered. I blinked back tears.’: Woman says her husband is ‘truly is a walking miracle’ after motorcycle accident
“He had blood-soaked gauze around his head. ‘Is that a bone sticking out of his arm?’ Sean had been in a motorcycle accident. I sat beside his bed listening to the ventilator push air through his body. I need you. Your boys need you. I know you’re in there, but you have to show these doctors that. I’m going to go home. When I get back in the morning, you need to wake up.'”
‘Out of the blue, my 17-year career ended. I lost all three of my brothers by 40. It felt like a divorce’: Woman says ‘there is no way to compare grief’
“At 40, when the kids are older and kind of self-sufficient (somewhat), you should be hitting autopilot. You feel like your crap is together and BAM…ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. Well, at least it did for me.”
‘Honey, Red Lipstick must be earned,’ she stated. ‘Red Lipstick is a confidence that can only be achieved through time.’: Woman recounts her journey to ‘Red Lipstick Day at last’
“‘I cannot understand you. Let’s speak English, no?’ she said, impatiently. ‘Uh, okay.’ I replied. ‘Umm…I would like some red lipstick, please.’ She took a moment to look me over and I couldn’t help but get the feeling I was somehow inadequate. ‘I think you’d be more com-for-ta-ble in this co-lor…’ she said as she grabbed a lipstick tube off the shelf.”
Don’t Wait For Your Dreams A Second Longer—It’s Time To Pursue Them Now
“I have all these mental images of women, dressed for success and sitting desks with their laptops open and their not-even-necessary glasses to the side. The lighting is bright and there is a perfectly groomed plant in the corner by a floor to ceiling window. I felt like an imposter for being successful.”
‘I was 14 and pregnant. ‘Can we meet?’ 9 years after she was born, my birth daughter’s family encouraged her to hug me. I didn’t want to let go.’: Woman shares perspective as an adopted child, birth mom, and adoptive mom
“I chose an amazing woman to be the mother of the child I birthed. And yet, I no longer knew how to approach her. Nine years after placing my daughter the adoption agency called me with news that would change the rest of my life. My birth daughter’s family had contacted them to see if I would be willing to meet.”
‘Isn’t he too big to be in a stroller? Shouldn’t he be walking?’ I couldn’t keep my little boy safe anymore.’: Family adopts service dog for autistic son, ‘That was the day my little boy’s life changed forever’
“She was the first thing he went to in the morning and the last thing he kissed at night. She was his protector. She was his safety blanket. She was his best friend. He rubs her fur, she licks his hands, and together they can take on the world.”
‘SHE’S 21 AND PREGNANT. DO NOT ASSOCIATE.’ We lost friends. We stopped getting invites.’: Young mother swears every sacrifice was worth it, ‘We gained so much more than we lost’
“Our apartment was located near bars. 8 days after moving in, we found out we were pregnant. Life did an immediate 180. We’d wake up, look at Snapchat, and watch all of the fun we were missing out on. When we heard our baby’s heartbeat flutter for the first time, we knew we’d do anything for that little person living inside me.”
‘He told me once when he was deployed, a woman noticed my picture on his laptop. He carries a heavy load.’: Military spouse says ‘the load is so much lighter when we carry it together’
“I turned bright red when he told me. When we lived overseas, there was a 7-hour time difference and a 23-hour flight separating us from the rest of our family. He’s the kind of man who holds you when you cry and ask for forgiveness.”
‘We need to talk, Kayleigh. The amount of water you’re drinking is drowning your body.’: Woman talks about fighting mental illness, ‘You don’t have to believe your thoughts.’
“I kept saying, ‘I don’t know, I don’t remember, I don’t think so.’ I felt so stupid. Like had I not been living in my own body? How come I didn’t know how much I have been sleeping, or using the washroom, or what day it was for that matter? Healing was for people who had time to sit around and think about their problems.”