Sophia San Filippo

Managing Editor & SEO Lead

Based in New York City, Sophia San Filippo has worked with Love What Matters as a lead editor and content curator since early 2019 and has acted as Managing Editor since early 2021. She is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Binghamton University who holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Creative Writing, and Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. She is passionate about personal storytelling and creating a positive space in media to better the lives of others. On a typical day you can find her rocking out at her local concert venue, admiring nature, or baking her latest kitchen experiment.

‘Here’s to the girl dads who watch princess movies, slow dance in the kitchen, and let tiny hands put polish on their big toes.’: Mom pens appreciation letter to girl dads, ‘You are building hearts with your construction hands’

“Here’s to the girl dads who babysit dolls and pause wrestling matches to conduct tea parties. To the dads who help take off training wheels, tighten seatbelt straps, and fasten car seats. To the guys guy covered in tattoos who has spent so many years learning to hold on, and will spend the rest of your lives learning to let go. You are building hearts with your construction hands.”

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‘Who are you? I don’t know you and I’m really scared,’ she said, shaking. She was crying now. I was her baby, her best friend.’: Woman shares painful Alzheimer’s journey, ‘Nothing prepares your heart for the day your mom doesn’t know you’

“That morning, I picked up my mom for a routine dental cleaning. As usual, she was happy to see me. Nothing stood out as odd. She joked with the receptionist about me and walked out the door with a smile. As soon as the sunlight hit her face, she turned to me. ‘You never told me.’ ‘Told you what?’ I asked. ‘Who you were.’ All in a couple of seconds, I realized this was very real. She was terrified and begged, ‘Take me home.’ I soon realized ‘home’ was her childhood house. My mind was racing.”

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‘Ma’am, have a seat.’ I wanted to scream, ‘Look at the scar down my chest, I’m not making this up!’ They didn’t believe me.’: Woman finally diagnosed with invisible illness Myasthenia Gravis after 6-year battle  

“I was written off as hormonal. My husband frantically demanded I be intubated. He kept screaming, ‘The oxygen levels don’t matter. She’s in a Myasthenic Crisis!’ I tried to take a breath. It was too late. All my muscles started twitching. I was flopping around on the hospital gurney uncontrollably. Suffocating. I was dying and no one was listening to my husband’s desperate pleas. I heard Code Blue called over the intercom and faded away. I didn’t wake for 2 weeks.”

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‘I held your little body in my hands, doing CPR with my thumbs. ‘God, please take my life and let her live.’ The fire engulfed the house.’: Firefighter pens emotional ode to victims, ‘You were more than just a call’

“I was one of the Firefighters who received the call you were in trouble. We immediately dropped everything and jumped on the Engine. We found you unconscious. The house was close to 100% engulfed in fire. Your parents screamed your name, held each other. I held back tears. Time was against us, but we held onto that glimpse of hope. You never even saw my face, but I still remember yours.”

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‘Mr. Peter, can I call you my dad?’: Single man adopts 11-year-old from foster care after biological and adoptive family abandon him

“I received a call from my social worker. ‘Can you take in an 11-year-old boy, just for the weekend?’ His birth family abandoned him at 2 years old and now, his adoptive family of 9 years left him at a hospital like some disposable object, never to return. All their promises of a forever family were thrown out the window. Helplessly crying tears of anger, I asked, ‘Where will he go?’ There were no family members to contact, no foster homes available. ‘He’ll be placed in a group home.’ There was no way I could let that happen.”

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‘If you want to say goodbye, you’d better come now.’ She’d only had a bad cold. She died before she hit the floor.’: Mom dies suddenly of congenital cardiac arrhythmia, leaves behind 3 toddlers

“She was just lying there with medications keeping her heart going and a ventilator breathing for her. All I could do was hold her hand and talk to her, tell her how much I loved her, how much those three babies need her, and beg her to come back to us. “

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‘If you could, can you give my bonus points away to whoever scores the lowest?’: History teacher touched by student’s act of kindness, ‘I was the one taught a lesson that day’

“It’s a mild, dreary February day in southeast Kentucky. It’s WWII exam day. 50 multiple choice questions, 100 points. Exams are distributed, students read and bubble, time passes. One student hands me his answer sheet and turns. As he walks away, I notice an asterisked note across the page. ‘Wait, what?’ So many questions rush in.”

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‘You think you’re tired now? Just wait.’ Can we drop the ‘I’m more tired than you’ act and just lift each other up? I’m sick of this motherhood competition.’: Mom urges ‘just wait mama, it only gets better’

“‘Dear excited pregnant mom, you think you’re tired now? Just wait until your baby won’t sleep, your nipples ache, and you fight with your husband nonstop. You’ll probably get depressed, never get your body back, your house will always be a disaster, and your social life with disappear.’ Why is this the basic ‘welcome to motherhood’ letter being sent out? I received it. Many of my friends did. I suspect you did, too.”

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