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.

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.
“My husband and I decided it was time to get rid of some NASCAR memorabilia. Within 10 minutes of putting it up I got a message that someone was interested, but they wanted to send a check. I guess it was a good thing I said, ‘Yes,’ because the guy sent me a check for over $2,000. My item was just 50 bucks! The name on the package was not the same as the check.”
“I slumped down into that grey, padded chair and I thought to myself, ‘These people think we have it all together. We walk in here with our Sunday best on, hair done and a fake smile across our faces, and they have NO CLUE the gates of hell that have unleashed on us the last two days.”
“I can still remember her sitting in the white vinyl rocker next to the refrigerator, a wrinkled moisturizer-soaked hand on her forehead, shoulders slumped, trying to figure out how to raise a teenager long after she’d intended to raise a teenager. She sacrificed a lot by taking in her troubled, slightly drug addicted, disgruntled, often absent from class, foul mouthed, rebellious grandson.”
“I was told, ‘No one would come looking for you for 2 weeks if something were to happen to you.’ I’d find out about him having affairs. Reporting an abuser isn’t gossip, it’s integrity.”
“I opened my eyes.‘Monday and raining,’ I thought, as I slid my hand across the bed to find an empty pillow. Michael had slept downstairs… again. Our strong foundation began to crumble. I had no idea if our marriage could be saved. ‘I just left the Doctor’s office.’ This was the third doctor he’d seen about the lump above his eye. ‘He said it could be cancer.'”
“There are a million reasons moms aren’t sleeping. Those reasons will change, but they don’t go away just because our kids are getting older. Tired is how you feel when you’re giving all you can.”
“We celebrated birthdays for two of my sons. Wanting my mom here to celebrate and spoil her grandsons was overwhelming. I even made a last minute run to the grocery store, just to let the tears pour. Then I realized she was there at the party for her grandsons.”
“Young ladies, when you’re starting to pray for a spouse to spend your life with… pray for a man that will carry her down the stairs, to the car and spend all night in the hospital by her side. Because, if he can wake up at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday to hunt… he can wake up at 6:30 on Sunday to lead his family to salvation.”
“I suddenly looked like I had been through 3 wars. My ears got hot, my face was changing colors, and my esophagus started burning. I coughed. ‘He he he he he,’ my Grandma chuckled. I gave her ‘the’ look. The poor guy behind the cheese cart looked at me like l had a few screws loose and asked if I was okay. ‘I’m good. *cough* What’s the other ones?’ I was sweating. My sternum was on fire, but Mamaw didn’t raise no fool.”
“To any woman picking this box up to stare at it in longing, in mourning, in hesitation. To wonder. To wish. To throw it in her shopping cart again this month. Throwing it in with hope. With fear. With premature excitement. With anticipation. With a sense of dread that it may just be another down the drain waste basket Walmart drop of $12.98.”