As a Digital Editor of Love What Matters, I'm here to pull on your heartstrings and make you smile. After spending nearly six years as a Digital Reporter for ABC News' "Good Morning America," I'm thrilled to continue sharing touching and inspiring stories that the world is so craving. We can all use more love in our lives -- now you've found the perfect place to get it.
“It turns out, my daughter plays by herself during recess. To hear that shocked me, knowing my daughter is not shy. It’s a certain girl who won’t let others play with her. I’ve seen it firsthand. I’ve overheard that same girl mumble she ‘isn’t friends’ with my daughter. Yet my daughter is oblivious.”
“I lost my best friend. ‘What am I supposed to do now?’ All I’d ever known was taking care of my mother. Suddenly, I felt a tightness in my chest. ‘Well here is the panic attack I’ve been waiting for since she died.’ I arrive at the ER. The doctor came in. I remembered her. She was the doctor who admitted my mom. My heart rate shot up in panic. I looked her right in the eyes. ‘You can’t put me in Room 6. My mom just died there last week.’”
“‘How long has it been since you talked to your mom?’ He replied, ‘Oh, it’s been a long time.’ ‘Do me a favor. Call your mom to let her know you’re alive – will you do that for me?’ His face lit up. ‘Sure, I’ll call her right now if I can borrow your phone.’ I’ll admit, there was a nano second of hesitation that he might take off with it. She answered right away. My own son was that young man not long ago, on the street, begging for money, unsure if he was dead.”
“It was 6 months post my 4th open heart surgery. I was celebrating turning 26, a milestone my mother and doctors never thought I’d reach. That night, I met Ryan. ‘You don’t want to be interested in me. I have a lot of baggage.’ He replied, ‘What do you mean?’ ‘I’m probably going to die soon.’ Within 8 months, we were engaged. Not everyone approved of us looking for a surrogate, you know, because ‘I might die soon.’”
“I made the decision not to see and hold Jensen. It’s one of my biggest regrets I’ll ever have in my life. Honestly, I didn’t know how I could do it. I didn’t realize the permanence of him being really gone. Instead, I asked for a lock of his hair, and for them to take pictures of him. I wish I could go back to that moment, spend time kissing him. I wish I could’ve whispered in his ear, ‘I love you.’”
“I was blacked out. I was apparently dancing on the bar and fell off, head-first. My poor roommate called the ambulance because she was scared to let me fall asleep with a concussion. I convinced myself I ‘deserved’ a night out. I woke up with a swollen face and bloody cuts. I got kicked out of my sorority. I was more than just a ‘party girl.’ I had issues. Really, this was just the beginning.”
“‘The doctors said the chemo will mean I won’t ever have kids. I know how bad you want to be a dad. Don’t do this.’ ‘NO!’ I said. I planned the wedding for 2 days later. She’d been looking for a dress. Each bride had their wedding day on a name tag they wore. Melissa’s said ‘TODAY.’ Some were confused. Moments later, her eyes lit up. This gown, like Cinderella’s, would need no alteration. 10 months after our wedding day, she gave me the gift. ‘I love you, and I promise to learn to love whoever you choose after me.’”
“I start going through the bag he left at my house. I find everything. All his empty capsules, his spoons, his syringes. I realize he disposes the heroin capsules in cigarette boxes. There is so much. I feel like I can’t breathe. The tears fall as the images hit me in the face. My son. My son is a heroin addict. Knowing it and seeing it are completely different things. I’m not the same mom I was yesterday.”
“Divorce was the death of all I knew. ‘I’m not going to date anyone this year, if ever.’ I said those words with confidence. And then I met Kevin. ‘I’m only getting married once,’ he said just as confidently. I was reserved. I was cautious. But I also didn’t want to say goodbye. Then one day, he called me. ‘I love you. I’m IN LOVE. I can’t hold it in anymore.’”
“‘Babe, how many more of these are you going to try?’ I was fighting something I had no control over. When the nurses laid him on my chest, he turned his head up to look at me with his big blue eyes. I felt immeasurable love I never knew could exist. My heart might break at the thought of what she is giving up. She is woven into all my ‘I love you’s.’ I am his mom, because she chose me to be, and I love him with all my heart, for the both of us.”
