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.
‘No cell phone usage or speaking during the movie!’ ‘Security’ led them into the theater. The kids loved it!’: Parents create awesome home ‘movie theater’ during quarantine
“It got them doing lots of chores while learning to count money!”
‘He should be institutionalized!’ People wanted to know why we didn’t put him in a home to free up our time.’: Nephew of late uncle with Down syndrome shares his journey, ‘I always knew Kelly’s life mattered’
“He began having seizures. He required a wheelchair, was unable to feed himself, could not use the restroom, and basically became dependent for all of his daily needs. But in the midst of all the changes, Kelly never lost his ability to smile.”
‘Will you take a 2-year-old little girl?’ I didn’t sign up to foster 5 kids under 5!’: Single mom adopts 5 kids from foster care, ‘Once I saw their faces, I couldn’t say no’
“‘First comes love, then comes marriage and then comes a baby in the baby carriage.’ But what if you can’t get to love?! There I was, 38 years old with no man in sight. It was time to stop waiting for Mr. Right. It was time to take action.”
‘Ezra is sick and I can’t get to him!’ We sat in tears while they operated on him in front of us.’: Mom loses baby to Congenital Leukemia, ‘He worked so hard to make sure we got to meet him’
“The doctor explained, ‘Ezra has bleeding on the brain that we can’t stop.’ We were told they believed the kindest thing to do was to turn his life support machine off. She asked me so many questions about what I did during my pregnancy, as if something I had done may have caused it.”
‘Many won’t get a last phone call to hear, ‘I love you.’ My dreams of him are REAL.’: Dad has baby boy on brother’s due date
“We welcomed our baby into this world. It just so happened to be my brother’s due date. It’s a moment which sends CHILLS down my spine.”
’I am home fighting a battle. I am considered non-essential and furloughed from my job. The fear is real.’: Mom out of work during Coronavirus quarantine, ‘‘right now, I need to focus on things I am grateful for’
“I have been given the gift of time amidst all this and I need to appreciate it, embrace it and be thankful, even when I’m scared. I wondered what it would be like to give 100% of myself to just my family. An opportunity that seemed so unrealistic… until suddenly, it wasn’t.”
‘I lost a baby, too,’ Why is she saying that? I’m not losing my baby, am I? Surely they can save her!’: Woman experiences her baby being born still, ‘I have learned grief is not linear’
“The emotional pain was like something I have never experienced. I remember the midwife placing my daughter on me, I hadn’t opened my eyes and was terrified. She quickly took her off and I remember just crying. All I wanted to do was swap places with my baby. I didn’t understand how this could have happened.”
‘She took her life. The mantra became, ‘Be Kind.’ She couldn’t have predicted how it would resonate.:’ Mom in UK describes helpers amidst the Coronavirus, ‘let’s kill the terror with kindness’
“I have never met them. I do not know their faces, surnames, ages, job titles or nationalities, but I know their numbers, and if I ever need ‘any help with groceries over the coming weeks,’ they are close. I’ve read that note, several times over, tears welling in my eyes as I remember I am not alone.”
‘Will anyone love me after I transition?’ I knew all along who I was, I just didn’t know where I belonged in the world.’: Queer, non-binary, trans person comes to terms with identity, urges ‘you’re never alone’
“During the first appointment to assess my eligibility for hormones…I lied. A lot. I told elaborate tales about how I had ‘always dreamed of being a man.’ I worried I was a poor representation of the trans community. No one would suggest a woman who had a double mastectomy is no longer a woman because she lacks breasts.”
‘Most of us will get this virus. Our hospitals will be overwhelmed. And there is nothing we can do.’: Husband of doctor welcomes baby during pandemic, ‘I couldn’t let the kids see my fear’
“He is a doctor. That’s what you ‘sign up for.’ No. That is not what he signed up for. I would absolutely feel more inclined for him to help if I knew without a shadow of a doubt he had the life saving P.P.E. he needs to stay healthy. He needs it and his family at home needs it. WE NEED IT.”