Love What Matters

‘I begged my husband to come back, but he was done. He took sole custody of the kids.’: Mom’s journey to heal her family after struggling with addiction

“I drove high with my kids in the car. He packed up, took the kids and left. I was devastated. My marriage was over, and I wasn’t expecting to get my husband back, but I desperately wanted a relationship with my children. The only thing that stopped me from committing suicide was because it was my daughter’s 5th birthday the next week. I didn’t want my death hanging over that date.”

‘Levi has been begging to wear a dress to school. You can see the pure joy on his face. But my heart raced as we took him to school.’: Mom says no one should ever be shamed for being true to themselves

“As I left, I couldn’t help but pray and hope he would have a perfect day. Until I got a phone call.”

‘You’re paralyzed from the waist down.’ I was thrown 50 feet and landed on my back. I was told I’d never walk again.’: Woman makes amazing recovery after car accident, ‘My journey isn’t over’

“I remember my first thought being ‘Lilly!’ I tried to get up, but couldn’t move. I couldn’t feel. I couldn’t do anything. Seconds later, someone screamed, ‘Say something, say something!’ And all I said was, ‘Help.’ I was life-flighted. I died that day. I took my last breath when first responders put me in that helicopter. EMT’s did chest compressions the whole way. I was rushed straight in the OR. No one knew if I would even make it through the night.”

Two infant siblings smiling while sitting in grass

How I Became A Mom To Two Babies Three Months Apart

“I vividly remember the crazy looks I got walking down the street with my huge pregnant belly and a newborn baby draped across my chest. I would probably stare too.”

‘I ran across an old boyfriend’s picture today. Not just any boyfriend, but the one who broke my heart, the one I was certain was ‘the one.’: Woman reminisces about life, ‘Sometimes the end of the road isn’t the end of the journey’

“I cried over him. I lost weight over him. I stayed in bed for a week over him, and then went out every night for a month over him. I kept running it over and over in my head, completely melted into my mess thinking, ‘God, why? I don’t deserve this.'”

‘Marry that boy. Make him happy.’ I would wear makeup to cover the bruises on my cheek.’: Woman’s husband suffers from PTSD, traumatic brain injury post-military, ‘Never give up on their love’

“I thought he was just angry and stressed out. When he slowed down, his brain would wander. He blacked out while driving us down the highway and started to scream. ‘If you don’t get help, I’m taking the baby and leaving.’ It’s like losing the person you fell in love with and not being able to mourn.”

‘He wasn’t going to make it. The nurse placed her hand over my back. I shrieked. She knew what I knew.’: Woman surprised with pregnancy after husband’s death

“On our wedding day, by the end of the night, he was drained. The morning after, he slept in late because he was so exhausted. The night we celebrated his life, I took a pregnancy test. It was positive. It felt like a complete surprise, until I went for the ultrasound. My heart skipped a beat. July 27th was the due date. Jesse’s birthday.”

‘Bri, the smell is getting worse.’ I open the cabinet under the sink. My dad screams, ‘The house is on fire, we need to get out!’

“All of a sudden, a large cloud of smoke starts creeping in – and fast.”

‘I was 9 when my brain started believing my worth was truly nothing. Girls at school kept saying I’d break the mirrors with my ‘ugly dog face.’’: Mom shares how to tell if your child is being bullied

“There is a difference between meanness and bullying. I know from my own experience being bullied. I see what the signs are in my own boys if they’re struggling in school with a bully or a mean kid. Here are some ways you can tell if your child is being truly bullied.”

Dear Special Needs Moms: I Know You Feel Invisible

“I see you running your child to therapy when friends take their kids to Little League. I see you slipping out the of conversation when your friends are all chiming in about milestones and test grades.”

Dear Husband: I’m Sorry You’re Always Questioning What Happened To The Girl You Fell In Love With

“Love your tired, hardworking, exhausted, wife.”

‘When I went to pick her up, her feet were stuck on the road.’: Good Samaritan rescues kitten GLUED to the road, names her ‘Sticky the Kitty’

“It’s a kitten sitting upright just shaking like a leaf. Some jerk had spread glue on its paws and stuck it to the road. She was wet and freezing, and NO ONE STOPPED.”

‘Something strange happened. I began to cramp severely. I passed an object – I had no idea what was. I was a virgin, but it was like I had miscarried. The object was clear and full of veins.’

“This is very uncommon for your age. We normally don’t see anything like this in people under the age of 50. You need to have all the kids you want before we remove it. We will leave it in until you can’t handle the pain from it anymore.”

Today I Told Off A Stranger’s Kid, And You Should Too

“Mothers, if we don’t have each other’s backs like this, then how can it be a smooth experience for all? This is a village and it only works if we all do our part.”

‘He knew. Both his beautiful girls were in the fight of their lives.’: 17-year-old rallies behind his girlfriend after leukemia diagnosis, sister after Cystic Fibrosis diagnosis

“The pain came back with a vengeance. We watched our beautiful, vibrant, sassy daughter waste away. Then his girlfriend’s mother got an urgent phone call. ‘Can you please tell Wade?’ I held that 6-foot, 175-pound boy. I rocked him as he asked if he would lose her. He says they are his strength, and the girls say he is theirs.”

‘Let’s get married. Hurricane Michael has taken enough from us, we can’t let it take this.’ First responders wed despite hurricane destruction and heartache

“Everything went wrong for our wedding. Most people would think that it is a ‘sign.’ I think it is. It’s a sign that our love is stronger than a Category 5 hurricane.”

‘One more punch to my son’s head could have killed him. He was physically assaulted in gym class, attacked from behind, punched so hard he was knocked out, his nose broken in 5 places.’

“I feel as if I failed him as a parent, I didn’t protect him from this environment. But the scariest part was the fear in his eyes.”

‘I just felt her fingers and toes moving!’ Those movements would be her last. I hold on to them every day.’: Mom loses daughter to Placenta Previa, says grief is a ‘life-long process’

“I sat, alone, doing an ultrasound which looked like nothing. I’d lost all of my amniotic fluid, but my baby was still alive. The doctor told me she had a 1% chance of survival and to not keep any hope. ‘After delivery, what do you want to do with her? Here’s the arrangement options.’ In my mind, I was still holding onto that 1%. It took 2 hours to fully deliver her. It was quiet, sorrowful. I leaned up at one point and could see her legs, lifeless.”

‘He claimed he was going to leave his mark on me. I had a scar wrapping from cheek to cheek, now known as the ‘girl that had her lip bitten off.’: Woman escapes abusive boyfriend, ‘I am no longer a victim, but a survivor’

“I wasn’t there to get back together with him. I refused, only to feel him latch on to me. I started screaming at the top of my lungs for help and out of fear for my life.”

‘My closest friends decided to leave me forever. My core group was gone. My heart was broken. New friends? It is terrifying to put yourself out there. Girls can be mean. Women can be vicious.’

“I can prepare and clean my house for 3 hours the 1st few times you come for a visit. But I can only pretend it is usually this clean for so long before you find out the truth. One day you will stop in because you forgot your sweater, and you will see the underwear one of my boys flung on the couch and the dinner dishes piled up from last night.”

‘Twins run in my family. I had this list – married by 22 and a child by 25. So far so good. I married my amazing husband. We started trying to have a baby.’

“Our dreams of becoming parents were gone instantly.”