Posts by: Colin Balfe

Colin Balfe is the Founder and Chief Content Officer of Love What Matters. Colin was inspired to start Love What Matters after his mother passed from Ovarian cancer. Through his grieving process, he saw the need to connect a like minded community around a deeply personal storytelling platform. He's proudest of the communities within LWM, strangers united by powerful and impactful experiences, underserved people connecting around mutual challenges, hopes and dreams. These communities include Adoption, Mental Health, Infertility, Addiction, Grief, Special Needs Parenting, LGBTQ+ and many more.

‘I walked to the balcony in a rage of frustration. ‘Jump,’ I said to myself. ‘Just do it, no one loves you, you don’t even love yourself, do it.’

“As I put my leg over the rail wanting to end my life, a soft, still breeze swung upon my head. The breeze brought me to my mother’s empty coffee cup, sitting half drunk on the table. I love you Josh,’ my mom said, kissing me.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 14, 2019

‘Our attorney told us we shouldn’t get our hopes up. It doesn’t happen like this and it would not turn out in our favor. I didn’t know if we would hear from her again.’

“We were contacted by several women. Then I got a Facebook message from a woman who had seen our post.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 14, 2019

I remember looking at the doctor and demanding him to leave the room. ‘Wow Crystal you can’t even grow a baby correctly.’ I looked at my husband and we both began to cry. ‘WHY MY BABY?’

‘Hearing the little baby I was growing inside me was already going through so much made me feel like the biggest failure.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 14, 2019

‘My fingers were numb, but I blamed the cold weather. I had feelings of rug burn across my legs. ‘Mommy, my chest feels funny.’ Those were the last words she would hear me say.’

“My mom held me and then boom! I was crying ‘mom’ as I hit the floor. I took her phone and typed, ‘Pull the plug.’ She cried and cried, and I remember her saying, ‘I’m not gonna let you die.’”

Colin Balfe - Feb 13, 2019

‘She and her brother are both adopted, so we couldn’t even do a half match! That call was devastating. How could we come this far and not have any matches?! We felt hopeless.’

“We searched for weeks, and came up empty handed. I remember so vividly sitting in the waiting room thinking this is just a bad dream and we would wake up!”

Colin Balfe - Feb 12, 2019

‘The doctor is in his Battle Dress Uniform and is straddling me on the exam table. The surgeon told me, ‘you have the best cancer.’ I would learn later how wrong he was.’

“We lived on a military base where my husband was assigned as an active duty Marine. On a day which had started just like every other day of my life, my life changed forever.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 12, 2019

‘I was 15 years old when I found out I was pregnant. I woke up one day, went to my email to see a subject line: ‘Looking for Bonnie Perry?’: Teen mom’s reunion with daughter she gave up for adoption

“I almost threw it away unread, because I was certain it was another detective wanting my money. But I opened it, and read: ‘I am Bonnie’s sister. My mother would like to talk to you.’”

Colin Balfe - Feb 11, 2019

‘I have a dirty little secret. We all had it. It started out innocently enough. It was the worst 3 weeks of my life and I don’t wish this torture on my worst enemy.’

“It was May of last year. My oldest had earned perfect attendance and we were so proud and excited. My husband and I work full time and we have 3 kids, so the fact that everyone had been healthy all school year was incredible. Life was good. And then, it invaded our life.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 11, 2019

‘I couldn’t sleep laying down anymore, I couldn’t laugh without gasping for air. I was dying. I was 22 and writing a will in case anything happened to me.’

“I was so busy moving forward I wasn’t even aware my mind was stuck. A few months afterward, the actual nightmares began. I would try to sleep and flashbacks and memories bombarded me. I cried every night for weeks. I knew I needed help.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 11, 2019

‘We were about to see our baby. We were filled with so much hope. But our world was about to come crashing down. The lab tech was very quiet. I thought she was having a bad day.’

“The doctor said our daughter wouldn’t be able to feed or dress herself, she would be a ‘burden to society’ and would most likely ‘end up in an institution.’ I believed him. He pushed for termination and never once told us anything positive. We couldn’t be more proud of the little lady she is.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 11, 2019