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 looked straight at my husband. ‘Why isn’t he crying?’ He was like a wet sponge. Within seconds, he coded blue.’: Mom births baby with centronuclear myopathy, ‘I will do everything in my power to give him a full, happy life’

“My husband gripped my hand firmly and hugged me. ‘Please take care of our boy. Do anything you need to make sure he’s going to be ok.’ I reached out to hold his little hand. He couldn’t even grip it. His eyes were unable to open. He couldn’t close his mouth. He just lay there. The geneticist told us, ‘These types of cases very rarely live to see their 6-month birthday.’ He then shook my hand and left. I was in literaly hell.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 08, 2019

‘I went to my doctor to get an ultrasound of my abdomen. The results sent my world into a spiral. I was in complete shock. Was this the end for me?’

“We all have that inner voice that tells us when something is wrong. Something in your gut. Mine was saying this news wasn’t going to be good. The gynecologist came in, sat next to me on the bed, and said, ‘I’m sorry kiddo.'”

Colin Balfe - Feb 08, 2019

‘Unfortunately I see something here that could be a problem. I saw my mother-in-law’s face. She knew. We both knew something was off. I wanted to disappear.’

“I kept saying to myself nothing was wrong. I had seen the baby move and he looked perfectly beautiful and strong. When the doctor came in, I saw her face. With a serious look she asked me if I was alone.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 08, 2019

‘We were going to be parents of two children and we weren’t sure if one would survive. As the doctor pulled Vivian out of me, we held our breath as we waited to hear if she would cry.’

“We were happy because we were finally going to find out the genders of our sweet babies, but we were terrified because this appointment would confirm if something was truly wrong.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 07, 2019

‘I’m done helping you, brother. You had kids, and we all thought it would change you. It won’t be me who funds your final hit.’: Man shares emotional journey through brother’s battle with addiction

“When he would chase me around the apartment with a shotgun, I thought it was normal. When he confronted me about scabs and boils all over his body, I thought he needed to go to a clinic – maybe he had an STD?”

Colin Balfe - Feb 07, 2019

‘We were two girls having fun, or so we thought. We loved each other at 16-years-old.’: Young women fall in love in secret and worry about their love being ‘accepted’

“I was sick of being a secret, as if it was wrong or dirty, as if our love wasn’t acceptable. I returned home to find a sign on my gate door saying, ‘this way to happy ever after.’ I thought nothing of it. Zaynah stood there looking as pretty as a picture with a Build-A-Bear teddy and a rose which said, ‘I Love You, Will You Marry Me?’“

Colin Balfe - Feb 07, 2019

‘He swears he won’t do it again. He’s broken over this. I deserved it. It’s okay. My jaw isn’t bruised that bad.’

“The two extremes of how you loved me so gently, and also tore my soul to shreds so easily. When you punched me so hard I couldn’t close my mouth. How could you be both those things in one man – and how could I love someone who healed me, and hurt me, all in the same movements.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 06, 2019

‘It’s just something everyone does and I was better at it than most. It was a bandage covering a gaping wound I refused to address. Deep down, I knew.’

“Escaping anxiety, suppressing depression, avoiding life for just a few hours. But what Jessica wants to do in the end is always what Jessica is going to do.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 06, 2019

‘I completely forgot I was pregnant, or that I was even married. I was only 21. It was a nightmare.’: Woman suffers amnesia in car accident

“The day before we were to be induced we were hit head on by a fatigued driver. We were a mile down the road when we were hit head on. We were in my hometown for my little sister’s high school graduation, preparing our soon-to-be home before our sweet baby girl’s due date.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 06, 2019

‘I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve him. Anyone could do this better. I harbored fantasies about escape, vanishing, and death.’

“The light switch on how to be a mom would never flip. I felt like a fraud. Someone should do this instead of me. There IS NO light switch.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 05, 2019