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.
‘The doctor gently told us, ‘His case is not mild. At the very least, he’s on the severe end.’ Everyone focuses on what he CAN’T do, but we focus on what he CAN do.’: Mom recounts son’s diagnosis journey with autism, ‘You’ll move mountains’
“The signs were all there. Everything. I knew it was time. How did I not know sooner? I’m his mom, shouldn’t I just automatically know these things? We are NOT going to give up on you.”
‘I was over-medicated, an emotionless zombie. I didn’t know how to celebrate without him. This year, I FEEL.’: Widow shares feelings on holidays while grieving, ‘Finding a new normal is weird’
“I feel, at any moment, every good feeling may be the last one I have. I just have to put on my fancy holiday anxiety and deal with it. The worst part about being a widow is holidays.”
‘Chance of defects, chance of blindness, deafness, death.’ There was so. Much. Blood. I couldn’t feel a single thing. He was STUCK.’: Mom recounts traumatic labor, son’s ‘unique health issues’
“You don’t necessarily notice the impact early on, even if you start to recognize things just aren’t ‘right.’ You see differences at the park, watching other kids interact. Your friends’ kids start walking, then talking, and you start to notice delays. You question what you did wrong and what you could have done differently.”
‘LEAVE ME ALONE.’ I hurled a toy at the wall. It looked like a tornado struck our basement. I hit my LOWEST point.’: Mom shares candid reality of parenting in a pandemic, ‘We’re trying our best’
“The dent in the wall? It’s from me. The toy I’m holding? Yep, I threw it against the wall in a fit of tears.”
‘I was terrified of being ‘found out.’ I was taught by my church I wasn’t allowed to love, I was either ‘of God’ or ‘of Satan.’ It nearly cost me my life.’: LGBTQ man shares childhood trauma, homophobic upbringing, ‘We are poisoning a generation’
“At that moment I knew I had made a big mistake. I knew I shouldn’t have been there. I knew it was time for me to go. As I started to look for a way out, I was approached by an older man who said, ‘You look lost.’ In this world, I didn’t have to hide ‘what’ I was. I felt desired, special, and adored.”
‘What you see is what you get. If you only see the world’s problems, THAT’S what you’ll get.’: Woman urges ‘focus on what gives you peace’
“And nothing has been harder than having to try to stay in your lane, live purposefully, mindfully, and with lasting gratitude, during the seemingly never-ending (and, perhaps, disastrous?) year that is 2020.”
‘I’ll be back in two hours. Wait for me.’ I squeeze you one last time, kiss your cheek, tell you I love you, and leave. I hate myself for going. I was supposed to BE THERE.’: Woman shares heartbreaking last days of mother with terminal illness
“This can’t be happening.’ You were supposed to wait for me. I jump out of the still-moving car and start running to the front door. I jump on the bed and cradle your head in my arms and sob something terrible. ‘Please come back! I love you.’ I cry and scream into my pillow after they take you away in that horrible, black body bag.”
‘I took comfort in the fact my ugly, clunky ‘frankenboobs’ wouldn’t be with me forever. But, y’all, I am SCARED.’: Cancer fighter prepares for reconstruction surgery, ‘I am MORE than this body’
“I have to face the reality this is the end of the journey. Whatever I wake up to, or whatever I wake up with—that will be my new body. There is no next phase, there is no going back.”
‘We became friends on Facebook and never saw each other again. Until last fall, when they joined us for Thanksgiving.’: Mom shares story of ‘friends who feel like family’
“As she chased behind her new friend, her mother and I struck up a conversation, and at some point she mentioned her daughter’s autism. My daughter was two at the time. I was at the beginning of my suspicions she shared that same diagnosis. This stranger—this mom—was the first person I told.”
‘My child would NEVER act like that, and if they did they wouldn’t get away with it.’ He is NOT misbehaving in these situations, he is trying to COPE.’: Mom shares reality of having a son with autism, ‘His brain just works differently’
“‘He doesn’t have autism, it’s all in your head.’ Please don’t tell me ‘he’s not THAT bad, it’s hardly noticeable, it’s very mild.’ I wouldn’t be surprised if someone suggests an exorcism!”