Love What Matters

‘I was relaxing by the pool, scrolling through my phone, when my heart stopped. My son was considered a ‘curse.’: Mom adopts boy with Spina Bifida, ‘We are the blessed ones to have him’

“He was sent to live in an orphanage. At only 4 years old, they were preparing him for an Adult Mental Institution. We had no idea what his name was. We didn’t even know his birthday. Every time that phone rang, I ran to it. I was on pins and needles.”

‘You’re too young to foster a teen.’ Everyone around us told us to say no. We already had 5 little kids.’: Foster mom says ‘every kid deserves to know they are loved’

“My 11-year-old son with autism said to her, ‘Will you remember me when you leave? I don’t want you to forget me. I won’t have anyone to play with at school.’ He told her he loved her. It isn’t easy. Sometimes it seems like the trauma won. But she will never have too much ‘baggage’ to be loved. I’m so glad we said YES.”

‘Why are there only four people?’ ‘I’m not in the picture, I’m in heaven.’ A part of me knew it was true, even then.’: Mom shares emotional grief journey after 14-year-old son killed in car crash

“He was everyone’s greatest cheerleader, and his teammates and coaches loved him for it. I had an overwhelming feeling to appreciate that exact moment in time. ‘The traffic is actually not too bad.’ That was the last moment I remember.”

‘I hope you’ll take time to get to know their strengths and weaknesses. That will make it so much easier for me to let them go.’: K-5 teacher urges middle school teachers, ‘Your students will always be OUR students.’

“I was already worrying about the next school year. Some of my students, I fell in love with right away. Others, it took a little more time. Will you give them that time? When you struggle with them, maybe it will help if you think of all the teachers who loved them for years. If you need help, I’ll be here.”

Before You Get That Cute Puppy, Imagine Life 10 Years From Now

“She was so full of life. She watched me graduate high school, rebel, graduate college, have a baby, move, and get married. Then, one day, her energy dimmed. Her face turned white. And when the time came, I stepped up and gave back to her what she had given me all of her life. I held her until the last breath.”

‘What did you do to make her like this?!’ Wow. My son was just 4 years old.’: Mom shares lessons learned raising trans son who ‘is blazing trails’

“I thought I was being so progressive when I ‘allowed’ my son to dress ‘like a boy’ when he began voicing his opinions. Now, I laugh at that notion. I’ve transformed into a completely different person.”

‘I blurted out on the phone, ‘My little sister and brother have been taken to a foster home.’ My 11-year-old self ran to my bedroom, fighting back tears.’: Foster family realizes ‘we didn’t need all the answers’

“My 11-year-old self ran to my bedroom, fighting back tears. I didn’t know when I would see them again or even where they were. My husband blurted out, ‘We should look into that.’ ‘Into being foster parents?’ They were only 5 and 3 years old. They would be so scared. I wanted to be the nice foster mom.”

‘In the silence of the morning, before anyone else is awake, it’s just me and you.’: Mom says ‘I’ll cherish this gift of knowing you, before the world knows how special you are, too’

“These little kicks. Every turn of your body, every poke of your finger…they are sacred. I’ll cherish these moments. Because God gave Mamas a special gift. A gift of knowing our babies long before anyone else.”

‘Someone WILL get COVID-19 in your school.’ My heart ached as they put their masks on. It isn’t supposed to be this way.’: Preschool teacher shares experience during pandemic

“It’s not supposed to be this way. I started teaching 15 years ago. Never did I think I’d be navigating teaching during a pandemic. Children who have been home for months are now going to be in my classroom. I honestly can’t believe it’s come to this.”

‘I’ve made the decision to send my kids to school, and I am filled with so many mixed emotions.’: Mom says ‘there is no right or wrong answer’ amid school reopenings

“‘Well, schools wouldn’t be opening if they didn’t think they could keep the kids safe, right?’ But then I see these counties in Georgia with hundreds of cases after schools opened. I think about my 72-year-old mother currently living with me and wonder if I’m making the right decision.”

‘Where is his wife? Why is he watching the baby? What’s she doing?’ My favorite part of this story is the way Steven told it to me.’: Mom grateful for husband’s help during child birth recovery

“I felt completely overwhelmed and exhausted. Enter Steven.”

‘Don’t compare apples to oranges.’: Woman responds to Cannon Hinnant’s death, ‘This is about right versus wrong’

“Two innocent children died by the reckless use of a firearm, but there was a difference.”

‘I notice the careful details in dorm rooms. The way you hold your not-so-little person a little too tightly. I am in awe of your ability to let go.’: Mom pens letter to the ‘brave mamas and daddies’ amid school reopenings

“You’re pushing your baby bird from the nest amidst a pandemic. You’re swallowing the fears setting sail in your mothering heart. Dropping your person off at college must feel like a bittersweet victory.”

‘Hold me a little tighter Momma, life is moving by so fast.’: Mom pens touching letter from perspective of child, ‘Holding you all these years has meant more than you’ll ever know’

“I’m not ready for you to go.”

‘I’m struggling to answer questions from my children about school and sports. I’m struggling to find the light at the end of the tunnel.’: Mom reminds us ‘we don’t have to walk this path alone’

“I’m struggling to make choices that seem unpredictable and scary. I’m struggling with the ‘what if’s’ and the unknowns surrounding the future.”

‘It’s funny, I see you becoming a mother to a baby, but not a newborn. He’ll have big, round, blue eyes.’: Single mom details attachment and adoption process from foster care

“I nearly fell right out of my seat when I saw my very first picture of Axel. A cherub, round face of a gorgeous 6-month-old, with the biggest blue eyes, stared right into my soul from the computer screen in that social worker’s office. I was floating on cloud 9, but she reminded me there are always risks involved with adopting from foster care.”

‘The feeling you know for a fact your child is out there on the other side of the world, is something I just can’t describe.’: Single woman details Indian adoption journey during COVID-19

“Single and adopting. Those two words, when said together, shock people. ‘Wouldn’t it just be easier to get married and have kids?’ I woke up Thursday at 3 a.m. with an email. They asked if I would be interested. I VERY quickly responded with an absolute, ‘YES’. Adoption always was in my story.”

‘I need a friend,’ she said. That’s all she had to say.’: Woman urges others ‘if you need one, too, tell someone’

“Sometimes, more than coffee, wine, quiet, a vacation or some self-care, what we really need is human connection with good people.”

‘Whether you choose to isolate 100%, form a pandemic bubble, or send your children to school, know you are doing the very best you can.’: Woman urges ‘choose joy, despite all the reasons not to’

“Living in 2020 is kind of like living inside of a dumpster…during a tsunami…while it rains dirty diapers. If you are doing everything you know to do, fear is no longer keeping you safe, it’s merely robbing you of your joy.”

‘I was billed $7,600 to end a pregnancy I desperately wanted. I didn’t know I’d have to choose.’: After miscarriages, woman starts motherhood movement, ‘I found healing’

“The car stopped and I ran to the bathroom. I was greeted by the most unwelcome guest: an amount of bright red, to this day 5 years later, makes my heart stop to remember. I was angry at the world.”

40 Signs You’ve Met ‘The One’

“Wait for someone who shows you how much they care about you every single day, because forever is a long time to be spent with someone who loves you any less.”

‘You would have to be prepared to adopt.’ My heart stopped fluttering; it just stopped. ‘How am I even allowed to be doing this?’: Woman becomes transracial foster mom, ‘We are the lucky ones’

“She was playing basketball with all the neighborhood kids in our front yard when I got home from work. My heart fluttered. ‘What the heck am I doing? Can I even be a good mom? I know NOTHING.’ I walked up and tried to say hello to her.”

‘She’s not just gone to the grocery store or gone on vacation, but she’s gone so far she’s never coming back.’: Motherless daughter shares reality of grief and loss

“It’s buying her cards for her birthday and not having an address to send them to. It’s asking her old friends and family members to tell you the same stories about her, over and over again. This is the life of a motherless daughter.”

‘He found her playing with a used drug syringe. ‘The kids can all come here!’ I didn’t even stop to talk to my husband.’: Couple fosters 5 siblings, deals with ‘roller coaster’ of 7 kids

“’Hey, I was thinking…’ I am the queen of crazy ideas. This was a single father with five children, ages 12 to 1. That hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t even hesitate.”