Devon Ledbetter is a writer and editor based in Florida. She holds a BA in English from Florida State University. She currently formerly worked as a Digital Editor with Love What Matters and has previously had works published with College Magazine and Her Campus. Her favorite pastimes include beach trips, baking, and concerts. You can learn more about Devon through her portfolio https://dnl16b.wixsite.com/ledbetter-portfolio
‘Your aunt’s house burned to the ground last night. Andrew didn’t make it out.’ For the first time in my life, I felt free.’: Sexual abuse survivor shares healing journey through sobriety and motherhood
“I was six years old the first time it happened. He asked if I wanted to play a game called ‘Truth or Dare.’ By the time I was in middle school, I understood drinking. Suddenly, nothing seemed awful anymore.”
‘Collectively, we are going through one of the hardest times in history. Individually, we are all fighting our own battles others know nothing about.’: Burnt out mom urges ‘we can do hard things’
“These moments are here to teach us lessons, to break us down and rebuild a stronger version of ourselves. You are a warrior, you are a fighter, you are a survivor.”
‘After 6 years of battling infertility and finally getting my miracle baby, COVID-19 almost killed me.’: New mom recounts postpartum COVID, ‘She was the one who kept me going’
“I was saved by a nurse who must have been a mom. I begged her to help me, and told her I have a three-day-old baby at home. She assured me she would get me to my baby.”
‘When the social worker left, he didn’t even know my name. Today, he shares mine.’: Single dad shares emotional adoption journey
“I could not be more proud to hear him call me dad.”
‘I remember coming home from school, seeing you on the couch. You didn’t ask me how my day was. I get it now, mom.’: Mom battling depression, suicidal ideations says ‘your illness doesn’t make you a bad mom’
“It’s not that you didn’t want to get off the couch, it’s that you couldn’t. Your mind was so sick it made you physically unable to function. It made you so tired the most simple tasks felt like climbing Mt. Everest.”
‘The statistics were extremely stacked against me. Then, I was adopted.’: Former foster youth shares healing journey, ‘You are not responsible for what happened to you as a child’
“I experienced the stability and safe love I’d longed for years. And even though I tried to push it away, they never left me. My family was relentless in their commitment to loving me and helping me heal. No matter what I did – and I did a lot of things – they loved me.”
‘They told me, ‘There’s no way you have that. Take an antidepressant.’ I was in horrible pain and no one was listening to me.’: Woman living with chronic pain shares diagnosis journey
“Some days I am so hungry and have a fridge full of food, but I can’t eat it. When I do eat, the pain is so bad I’m curled up in a fetal position for the rest of the night. Then I wake up and I do it all over again.”
‘He said, ‘I just knew I was going to love you.’ I thought I would never find someone like this for me and my son.’: Mom shares non-traditional love story after teen pregnancy
“I had always wanted someone who would love my son like their own and here I had a man who wanted my son to stand next to him on the biggest day of his life. This wedding wasn’t going to just be a union of two people, but an official union of our family.”
6 Self-Care Strategies To Prioritize Yourself In 2024
“Nourishment is more than trendy nutrition.”
6 Meal Planning Tips For The Busy Mom
“I learned very early on with having kids I could no longer ‘wing it’ for meals.”