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.
“Our GPS was basically like, ‘You guys don’t want to go that way, PLEASE go this other way!,’ but we didn’t listen. Of course we wanted to go this way! I couldn’t get my balance. I was shaking with anxiety. But smile, everyone! Say cheese!”
“I asked him for the hundredth time: ‘Do you ever go near the water without me?’ He shook his head adamantly and said: ‘No way, Mama. Then I wouldn’t see you again, and we would be so sad.’ I never imagined these words would come true.”
“Missing both forearms and hands. This felt like a punch to the gut. It stole my breath. My husband firmly, passionately said to me, ‘I’ll do whatever I have to do to take care of her. I’ll build her anything. I want her. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll take care of her for the rest of her life.’ He was right. She saw me and said, ‘Yes. I want her. I want HER to be my mommy.’”
“After graduating high school just months prior, with a 5+ month baby belly hidden under my gown, I was rushed into ‘the next chapter.’ The pregnancy was over, and I just wanted to be a ‘good girl.’ No baby in my arms, I cut ties with her father. Then blink! I reunited with my baby days shy of her 18th birthday.”
“I was told to make an effort to look better, dress in a sexy manner. He would show me the kind of pornography he enjoys. I found so many messages he sent to women he claimed were his ‘friends.’ When I confronted him about it, he laughed.”
“I was too young to get cancer. There was no way. I was fit and healthy, currently in the best shape of my life training for a trip to Everest basecamp. I prepared my chemo bag. I was ready for this. But when I walked into the hospital and saw all the elderly ladies around me wearing head scarves, I instantly felt a fear I could not describe.”
“He was on his knees at his wife’s bedside. Like a ton of bricks, it all caught up with him. He deflected his own grief to make sure everybody else was okay. But we all knew that deep down, this was tearing him up.”
“I finally mustered up the courage to tell my friend. She and her husband worked with my brother in the youth group. ‘I have to tell you, I’m not surprised by this.’ She said she had seen red flags and strange behavior from my brother and always thought there was something off. Eventually, he confessed.”
“I always knew there was something wrong. ‘I’m not sick, I don’t need to take medication.’ It would intensify. I had so many questions. Why wasn’t she like other moms? Why were there times she wasn’t there? Why did she sleep so much? Why did her emotions change so drastically? All the built-up emotions from my childhood hit me like a ton of bricks.”
“I didn’t realize until that moment that something was terribly wrong. My OB came into the delivery room and sat next to me. ‘I promise you; everything is going to be okay.’ The next morning, I looked over and saw him in the bassinet beside me. ‘Who is this baby? Where did he come from? What happened?’”
