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.
‘You’re going to do exactly what I tell you.’ He grabbed my throat. The devil was staring me in the face. Fear washed over my body.’: Young woman survives sexual assault in woods, ‘I refuse to hide. I need others to know they aren’t alone’
“A boat was pulling up, and two guys were inside. They said, ‘Who is this?’ I was confused. He was locking up his truck and his friends told him to hurry the hell up. He responded, ‘Hey at least I brought you guys some tail.’ My stomach sank, my heart started to race. I had recently been told I overreact…was this just an overreaction to a dumb joke? I went in the tent to grab a shirt because I was freezing. He followed me in and starting kissing me. My ‘no’ didn’t matter. I burst into tears. He looked at me with disgust. ‘I don’t like your attitude.’”
‘My brother came to me in a dream last night and told me he was in heaven. He isn’t in pain anymore.’: Mom of 2 children with rare skin condition loses youngest unexpectedly, ‘Nothing could be done, my baby was gone forever’
“’They’re here!’ I saw my husband staring with a scary look on his face. Everything went out of focus. I walked to his bed, and I sank to the floor. He was gone. I screamed, doctors came running in. They performed CPR but because of his disease, it tore all the skin from his chin to his chest. They told me his heart stopped due to complications. I later found out he was given fentanyl during the flight.”
‘Please God, give her back! We already knew, she’s gone. I was weak from grief.’: Mom recalls loss of daughter, uses music to keep her memory alive, ‘No matter what I’m singing, I know she’s there, because she is my song’
“It was just me and Alice at the hospital. There was a soft glow from the bathroom, the door barely cracked. She laid on my chest, we were just there together, soaking each other in. Time stood still. She was so feminine, petite. I say, ‘I know whenever I sing, you are there,’ and I truly mean it. It’s as if I am sharing my beautiful, perfect daughter, and that brings me joy. I would find her singing to herself in her bed. I knew we would be connected through music forever.”
‘Hey, you look swollen by your collarbone,’ my coworker stopped me. I groaned. I had a huge trip planned. The pain skyrocketed.’: Young woman lives with a chronic desmoid tumor, advocates so her ‘struggles can become guidance for someone else’
“My diagnosis began in a yoga studio. I noticed something was wrong when I couldn’t hold my balance easily. I developed a tight pinching and dull ache in my right shoulder. As I came out from anesthesia, my mom asked the doctor how it went. ‘Well, confusing,’ he replied. ‘The cause of your swelling and pain remains a mystery.’ I was stunned. I ended up in a surgeon’s office. ‘This is suspicious for a sarcoma.’ I had to interrupt. ‘I’m sorry, you said sarcoma? Do you mean I have cancer?’ I stammered in disbelief.”
‘I think I can do a handstand on a kettlebell!’ It was a dumb way to get injured. The room began to spin.’: Woman has stroke after a fall, ‘I had more time to pray and think during my recovery than I’d ever had in my life’
“My husband assumed I’d caught a bug. ‘What did you have for breakfast?’ The consensus turned to food poisoning. It seemed plausible, but why would the room be spinning? Why couldn’t I stand up? ‘I told her eating leftovers for breakfast was a bad idea!’”
How To Be Fearlessly You (From A Recovering People Pleaser)
“One ex-boyfriend told me, ‘I HATE when women tell me no.’ No wonder he liked me, I was his perfect victim! I was afraid to wear my hair curly, so I straightened it every day. I wore colored contacts to look more like the favored girls with blonde hair and blue eyes. I said yes to my professor’s inappropriate advances which led me to being alone in his office where he tried to sexually harass me. I was fearful he’d give me a bad grade if I wasn’t nice to him.”
‘I can’t tell my dad, please, you have to.’ I couldn’t say the words. ‘Sometimes we don’t all make it to the end.’: Young woman survives cancer 3 times, says she is ‘finally living her full life’
“My husband held me as I cried and said, ‘I just don’t know if I can do it all again.’ I took a minute to figure out if it was the path I wanted to take. I was so exhausted, I didn’t know what would happen nor was I in a state to even TRY. I dug deep and knew in my heart I had to fight again. I was not going to let my family down by giving up.”
‘This is it! I’m not going to make it. He’s going be raising our baby alone.’ I said goodbye to husband for the very last time.’: Mom survives preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome, delivers micropreemie who defies odds, ‘She is a sassy fighter’
“A nurse held my hand and whispered a prayer in my ear. That’s the last thing I remember before falling asleep. When I opened my eyes, I was alone. I tried to lift my hands and feet but couldn’t – I was tied to the bed. I began to panic. I couldn’t rest until I laid eyes on my little miracle. She was kicking, flailing her arms. I touched her finger and she grabbed my finger with all her might. It was then I knew, not only would she, but WE, would be just fine.”
‘I mouthed, ‘I can breathe.’ Dark voices started whispering inside my head. ‘I am scared to be a mother.’: Young woman survives near-fatal wreck, beats all odds, ‘My journey isn’t over but I’m starting to feel like ME again’
“I was in a medically induced coma for 17 days. I awakened to some very dark news. The doctors said, ‘You will probably never move more than 2 fingers.’ I am hearing this, but I can’t respond. I could not talk. I wondered why I was still alive. Prior to the wreck, I had long thick hair. They started washing it. Nurses were pulling out glass and other debris. I begged them not to cut it, as it was all I had left of my previous self.”
‘Your chest looks so flat. What have you done to yourself?’: Young woman battles with weight, self-esteem after abuse, now uses her voice to protect women
“During 5th grade, at my father’s office party in some big hotel, I went upstairs to play hide and seek. A completely drunk stranger started following us. When the rest of the group hid behind the sofa, the man pinned me down. After he was done, I ran downstairs to my parents. We were all crying and pointing upstairs. All the adults searched for the man, but he had left the premises. I packed more than 33 pounds. They would warn their kids, ‘Stop eating. Do you want to look like her?’”