LJ Herman is a former editor at Love What Matters and lives in Colorado. LJ is a concert, ticket and technology enthusiast. He has seen the Dave Mathews Band over one hundred times and counting.
‘When I gave birth to my second child, I relapsed. I was running around, so it was easy to miss lunch. But then, I started missing that meal purposely.’
“’Just because I did it in the past doesn’t mean I’d do it again. Plus, I’m breastfeeding.’ That was the scary thing, I was BREASTFEEDING, and my daughter needed the nutrients. Hearing myself say those words out loud freaked me out. I lied.”
‘If I could sit down beside 25-year-old me, the one sobbing and screaming uncontrollably on the floor, I would have a lot of things to tell her.’: Motherless daughter reflects on the day she lost her mom
“I would sit right beside the younger me who is screaming, ‘Why her??’ and ‘Where are YOU?? How did you just disappear??’ and ‘How am I going to survive this without you??'”
‘I used to be the wild girl, could have 4 or 5 drinks and be dancing like no one’s watching. I had confidence to talk to anyone, had more energy than one should.’
“I am invisible. And that can hurt. There are still parts of the old me that I miss. You are born alone, spend years developing who you are, becoming an independent woman… and then suddenly you become someone’s mom, someone who is too exhausted to enjoy life.”
‘Where was I? Frantically driving around the streets of Detroit, trying to find you, with tears streaming down my face, fear in my stomach, yet determination in my heart.’
“I see the comment so often when it comes to addiction. ‘Where were the parents?’ That REALLY infuriates me. We feel judged, unsure of what to say.”
‘Candy is delicious and it’s okay to give ourselves a REWARD for being awesome moms.’: This mom’s HYSTERICAL candy chart is pure parenting genius
“I kept seeing this picture that listed different candies, their calorie count and what kind of exercise you should do to burn them off. Um, no thank you.”
‘I am the Jewish nurse. The one people are talking about in the Pittsburgh shooting that left 11 dead. The nurse that cared for Robert Bowers who yelled, ‘Death to all Jews,’ as he was wheeled into the hospital.’
“I’m sure he had no idea I was Jewish. I wanted him to feel compassion. I chose to show him empathy. I felt the best way to honor his victims was for a Jew to prove him wrong. Love. That’s why I did it.”
‘BE CAREFUL!,’ I yell, like the neurotic helicopter mom I never thought I’d be. Don’t these kids know I made them from scratch?
“’I made you from scratch, you know.’ Teenage me rolled my eyes every time my mom said that. ‘Okay, so you gave birth to me. Geez, I get it lady. Now let me do my thing!'”
34 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Younger (From A 34-Year-Old)
“Don’t live by other people’s compliments. Don’t die by other people’s criticisms. Take it all with a grain of salt.”
‘I was in my mom’s ICU room when I received the call from my husband. ‘It’s stage IV pancreatic cancer. I’ve got 6 months. I’m a dead man walking.’: Woman shares grief losing her ‘anchors’
“It was a cruel one-two punch. The next six months became a battle for both of their lives.”
‘They tell you stressing over it makes it harder. But we can’t help feeling jealous when we see another pregnancy announcement on our timeline.’: Woman opens up about the pain of waiting for her own ‘positive pregnancy test’
“Before we take the test, in our minds we count out to see what month the baby would be born in and think about all the cute ways to announce it… something like ‘Red, White, and Due’ on the 4th of July. Then it turns into possibly making a surprise trip home to tell the family before summer is over. Then August and September pass and you decide it’s okay because announcing at Halloween is just as exciting. And then Halloween passes.”