Rebecca Balfe is a former editor for Love What Matters. She resides in NYC, owning and rescuing adorable cats. She is an avid Lupus fighter and advocate.
‘I sat in a hospital room as we mourned her mother’s last breaths. I held her trembling siblings.’: Couple fosters 9 kids, adopts 1, ‘Their arms around your neck are worth it’
“I rocked this child to sleep for 13 months. She knew me as her mom. We had NO idea what to expect for the future.”
‘Let me tell it STRAIGHT, there’s days I feel like I’m babysitting someone else’s kids.’: Foster mom details journey, ‘We’ve learned to love them as our own’
“They’d been with 4 different families in the last 6 months. The kids needed someone who could teach them to be a friend, to love others, to be kind, and to just be good human beings.”
‘You need help. You’re NOT okay.’: New mom, divorcee finds ‘a way out of the darkness’ during postpartum depression
“The silence was better than him not being here. I’d get an email from him just simply saying, ‘I love you.’ In between heartache and the grief of losing my dad, I was letting go of my 7-year marriage to a man I realized never loved the REAL me.”
‘I caught him in lie after lie. ‘But it’s MOSTLY wonderful!’ I had to choose whether I was going down with him.’: Woman leaves abusive husband, finds love again, ‘I’m no longer that scared girl’
“I stood barefoot in the dark, cold parking lot, sobbing, hoping he would follow me and tell me to come back home and everything would be okay. He never came.”
‘He raged, ‘Just STOP eating.’ Shocked and embarrassed, I did. I learned to eat quietly or not at all.’: Woman seeks recovery from eating disorder, trauma, ‘I’m reclaiming my joy’
“‘STOP scraping your teeth on your fork!’ he yelled. I feared family meals. I became strong when skinny and untouchable when numb.”
Let’s Face It —We All Knew Something Was Up With Meghan
“You could see sadness and a cry for help, but nobody would listen.”
My Heart Ached For Meghan Markle This Morning
“My in-laws said, ‘She will never be OUR family.’ I questioned how I could go on.”
‘What’s something you REALLY need?’ I heard horror stories. I wanted to help them build a BETTER life.’: Man starts nonprofit to help homeless, ‘Our goal is HOPE’
“Daniel put his head in his hands and began to cry. ‘Someone stole ALL of my belongings.’ He didn’t even have a shirt. A light bulb lit up in my head.”
‘They die early. They don’t even live long.’ Why couldn’t my peers treat PEOPLE like PEOPLE? I decided to help.’: Woman advocates for those with Down syndrome, ‘I want their voices to be heard’
“‘You have a lot of nerve and patience to spend all your time with them.’ I’m LUCKY to be surrounded by all of this love.”
‘People ask, ‘Who’s the mom?’ Just like them, we’d do ANYTHING for our babies.’: LGBTQ dads urge for acceptance
“We’re the family who sit around the dinner table and talk about our day. We’re the neighbors who bake you cookies or pies. Our place in this world is EARNED, not owed.”