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.
‘We were at dinner when I said, ‘Hell, give me another drink. I may take up smoking too.’ Kinsley was as healthy as a horse and in a week span, she was dead.’: Mom loses daughter unexpectedly to flu
“I was happily drinking a margarita. They all looked at me like I was crazy. I replayed every second leading up to her death. I realized there was no amount of science that could save her, but why her?”
‘She called the police on me while in my dorm because I didn’t text her back soon enough. I finally committed to cutting her out of my life, for good.’: Woman says narcissist mother ‘showed me everything I do not want to be’
“‘Mommy will be so happy and proud of me!’ Suds started pouring out of the machine. Her eyes turned the deepest shade of black I’ve ever seen. She withheld my food and called my stepfather to tell him to come home and beat me, just to watch me suffer. My mother showed me everything, with extreme clarity, I do not want to be.”
‘Watching my husband die in front of me was a defining moment in my life, but it is not the moment that defines the rest of my life.’: Young widow says loss has taught her to ‘love harder than ever before’
“Six months ago, my whole world came crashing down around me. My husband suffered right in front of me. Losing him at a young age broke my heart, but it didn’t break my spirit.”
‘I began ripping my clothes off. I stayed home. I could have been at the party I’d looked forward to for weeks, but instead, I chose my couch.’: Woman finds self-acceptance after ‘years of hating my body’
“‘You’re going to find the perfect outfit. Your body just birthed a human, be easy on yourself.’ I could feel the tears creeping in, the familiar burn in the bridge of my nose. This time I knew the root of it was different. I cried for all the years I spent hating my body. For all of the years hiding behind throw pillows and purses. I did something that, before, would have been out of the question. I told them the truth.”
‘My ex picked up our daughter from a visit, smiling at his phone and texting a whole lot. I knew he had met someone else.’: Woman says ‘put on your big panties and make co-parenting work’
“I went to my ex’s wedding. His fiancé asked me to be there with them, so I went. I was terrified. ‘Wow, a woman who hardly knows my daughter is going out of her way to welcome her back home?’ That was the moment I realized, she is the one for my ex and our daughter.”
Dear Society: When A Mom Says She Needs A Break, It’s Because She’s Breaking
“I’m not saying I don’t love my family. I’m not saying I wish I didn’t have children. I need to feel like me, just for a moment.”
‘Oh wow, she’s YOURS? Don’t you feel like you’re missing out?’ It hurt. My ego was busted.’: Young mom says, ‘God put her into my life early so I could love her a little longer’
“It hurt. I’m not going to lie. She is a beautiful lady, successful in her career, parents well, and her daughter is adorable. This is a mom I looked up to.”
‘Mama, this is the guy from the airplane I made friends with!’ She called Greg her BFF. Only 4 months later, she was dead.’: Mom wants others to know the impact of ‘difference makers’ after daughter dies from heart surgery
“Our precious Amie was approaching her next open heart surgery. ’Wanna play hooky from school?’ She excitedly said, ‘Yes!’ I secretly handed the next note to one of the most amazing difference-makers ever. He wanted to introduce the ‘celebrity’ on board. The look on her face was beyond amazing. This would be the last adventure we would ever be able to take together.”
‘They are hiding behind the phones FOR A REASON.’: Woman says ‘kids these days are heartbroken and terrified because of the situations going on around them’
“Kids these days don’t just have to worry about being bullied at school like I was. They must face being bullied at home through text or the internet. Without naming names and calling them out, I am going to tell you about 4 different kids.”
‘He may not always hold my hand, or say the words ‘I love you.’ But he always leaves me a plate of food on the counter.’: Woman says ‘it’s the little things’ after 21 years of marriage
“I read an article about hitting the marriage jackpot if your husband ‘does these 10 things.’ My husband of 21 years does none of them, but I still hit the jackpot.”