Love What Matters

‘I really messed up Will. I’ll call you soon.’ Nothing prepares you for this. I look back at conversations I had with my sister and tears run down my cheek.’: Brother recalls sister’s battle with addiction

“Emily was such a gifted kid. I was the jealous older brother. I always thought she would be going places. Until things changed. We received a large inheritance from our grandmother’s passing. It was like a switch. ‘I never want to see or speak to you again,’ I said to my sister.”

‘I thought, ‘How is THIS nothing to worry about?’ The walls were closing in. Everything turned black and I couldn’t move my body. ‘It’s common for college students to be under a lot of stress.’

“I decided to request one specific blood test; one that was much harder to receive than it should have been. I had to basically force my doctor to test me. One week later, I was finally given the answer I had been longing so badly for.”

‘Well, Amy, you just have good kids.’ No. I don’t ‘just have good kids’. I MADE them good kids. They are YOUR responsibility.’

“My kids went to bed at 9 p.m. every night. They weren’t pathological liars. They weren’t violent. They didn’t disrespect authority figures. If anyone has tried to talk to you about the behavior of your kid, instead of getting offended, get better.”

Mother smiling amongst pile of clothes and laundry basket

How My 4th Grade Classmate Changed My Outlook On Life (In Just 4 Words)

“I’m sitting here shaking my head at the age of 35, because I still feel guilty for my careless words that afternoon.”

‘Then I received this email. ‘Hi there, My dad has been fighting cancer. Dad is getting weaker by the day. We have to do this as soon as possible.’

“I couldn’t keep it together to talk on the phone. This is a very difficult and dark time, but I know how you feel about love. We are throwing this plan together really fast. We don’t know how long we have.”

‘I tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Hey, I’m Brittney. This is a photo of us when we were little.’: Flower girl and ring bearer become bride and groom after chance meeting two decades later

“On my first day of high school, in walks a new boy with familiar bright blonde hair. His name was Briggs and for some reason I couldn’t get it out of my head. I still remember the first time I went into his house. His mother led me to an old photograph hanging right on the wall. It was me. In that very moment, I thought to myself, ‘This is the man I want to marry.’ I felt completely at home.”

‘Can you wipe my eyes? Can you make my tears stop?’ We sat in silence as my 90-year-old father’s tears fell. He was going to be alone for the first time in 69 years.’: Elderly man’s emotional final goodbye to his beloved wife

“He laid his head on her chest. He kissed her and he cried. He told her how much he loved her. He said he wouldn’t trade one day of his life with her. He said he would marry her all over again. He said he will see her soon, and to hold the door for him.”

‘The last stop was the frozen aisle. That’s when I saw her. I wanted to help. Would she think I was a kidnapper? Her son turned the corner and disappeared. I knew I had to act.’

“Two years later, it happened again. I was at a cancer specialty hospital with my now late husband, who had been diagnosed. I was scared. As we were walking out to the car, I saw her again. She was crying.”

‘We had 90 days to get married. We both questioned what we’d gotten into.’: Woman takes leap of faith in marrying man who had never met her family

“I remember talking to my Dad after the fact. He said, ‘Ronnie called me to ask my blessing. I couldn’t understand half of what he said, but I told him yes, my daughter could marry him.’ Although, not everyone had encouraging comments. I had frequent questions like, ‘What if this guy just wants a green card?’”

After 23 Years, I Forgave My Uncle For Murdering My Father—And It’s Transformed My Life

“I once read that choosing to not forgive someone is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die. In my unwillingness to open up my heart and forgive, I held on to fear and trauma that only ended up poisoning me.”

‘YASSS GIRL!’ She wanted bubbles in her pictures, and her man was going to make sure it happened. He was so enthusiastic and I’m here for it!’

“Let me tell y’all something! Sometimes I have some REALLY grumpy boyfriends and husbands come to my sessions. Dudes who are on their phones the entire time, saying, ‘Are we done yet?’ But every once in a while, you get a gem.”

‘They hadn’t told us which bed she was in, but we knew. Somehow, we knew. She was tiny, wrapped in an orange elephant blanket, and absolutely beautiful.’

“Every day that went by, we didn’t know if it would be our last together. Every time the phone rang my stomach was in knots. There were a few times I remember looking at each other like, ‘What the heck did we just get ourselves into?’”

‘I got a call from my dad. In a moment of panic, I blurted quickly, ‘Dad, I’m pregnant.’ There was radio silence on his end. I remember thinking it’d never get easier.’: Teen mom’s journey keeping her baby and co-parenting

“The friends I had gone to high school with tore me apart online for posting a picture of my baby and saying I loved him. ‘How can you say you love him when you didn’t even want him,’ they wrote. ‘You didn’t even want to be a mom.’”

‘I remember saying, ‘First, I need to get high. We will deal with that later.’: Woman hits rock bottom of addictions with second pregnancy

“Our daughter has been placed in protective custody,’ my husband said. Then I find out I’m pregnant. I’m deep into my addiction – 95 pounds and shooting heroin multiples times a day. I tell my OBGYN. This was a rock bottom plea for help. Addiction crept into my life so quietly I didn’t notice until it was far too late.”

‘I have a secret. Somebody we know is hurting tonight. Somebody we know is watching their clock and praying for bedtime to come quickly.’

“There is a dirty little secret hiding behind the curtain. You are not the only one who crashes at the end of the day and needs everything to be silent, easy and invisible, so you can just BINGE OREOS IN PEACE FOR TWO FREAKING MINUTES.”

‘A friend of mine called. ‘Hey, I’m going to swing over and hang out with you for a few.’ I panicked. This wasn’t a planned swing by.’: Mom remembers what’s important after friend’s unexpected drop-in

“She came over and automatically opened my laundry room door. She went into my bedroom to make sure my bed was made. Then she made her way into my kitchen and checked my sink to make sure I had done the dishes. She gave me the once-over before we sat down to catch up.”

‘Danielle, babies cry. That’s what they do!’ I remember thinking, well it must be me then. This must be ‘normal’ and I’m just not equipped.’

“I wish I could have told my innocent and naive self to buckle up because that was only the beginning. Once we got the diagnosis, I remember foolishly feeling giddy. Like finally we have the answer and now it will be fine. This will all be okay. Like I said, foolish.”

‘Her eyes widened and her voice changed to panic. ‘What if you have a FIFTH daughter?’ This stranger’s question left a bitter taste in my mouth.’: Mom of five says ‘whatever we are blessed with is what we will cherish’

“I was at Costco with my little crew when a woman approached me about my growing bump. I usually try to ‘kill them with kindness.’ She noticed our four girls and our son, whom we adopted 3 years prior. She made a joke he was the only boy, then shifted her attention to what gender THIS baby would be.”

‘I lay in the hotel bed in tears. ‘Play with me!’ I snapped at him as I plugged calories into my app. ‘I can’t live like this anymore.’: Woman overcomes 10 years of eating disorders, ‘I’m always enough’

“I was determined to be that girl who transforms from ugly duckling into beauty queen over summer break. I stumbled across pictures of skin-and-bone bodies. I’d never seen anything like it, except in photos of German concentration camps. I only ever wanted to lose 15 pounds.”

‘I was finally ready to ask for a divorce. Then I found out I was pregnant. I was shocked. ‘Well I have to tell my husband.’ It felt like we were living separate lives.’

“I didn’t think I was going to make it. My husband was with me. I told him he was going to figure out how to be a great dad. He had to trust himself, and find who he needed to help raise our daughter. My breaking point was when I caught him lying to my face.”