Love What Matters

‘Are single people allowed to foster?’ Something in me clicked. I was so nervous my hands were shaking.’: Foster mom says ‘my heart will be broken, but in the best way’

“I had so much extra love in my heart. As I picked her up, I just knew. My life would never be the same.”

‘Am I having a stroke? My kids aren’t old enough to call for help. God, don’t let me die!’ Something was really wrong.’: Mom diagnosed with MS says ‘my life is still everything I dreamed of’

“I could no longer push my daughter in her stroller. ‘Let’s drive the two blocks to the park.’ I was falling apart. I couldn’t imagine life without legs that didn’t work.”

‘We can bring your Leprechaun trap a day late, okay?’ I see the disappointment in his face, pull over, and ugly cry as the mom guilt sets in.’: Mom shares important reminder ‘we’re doing the best we can’

“I feel bad I worked so much this weekend. I feel bad I work so much all the time. I stay up late cleaning up the day’s mess, and washing too many clothes. When it’s all over, I’m tired. If asked, I could have easily provided a mile long list of what I thought was going to be my final straw. Nowhere on the list would have been a leprechaun trap.”

‘He’s so cold.’ She ripped off the blankets, just watched him breathe. I could see she was scared to tell me.’: Mom shares son’s Angelman Syndrome journey, ‘He constantly defies the odds’

“He was so yellow he looked like an old-school baby doll. He was labeled ‘Failure to Thrive.’ Those three words were a punch in the gut. I felt like I failed my newborn.”

Hug Your Grandparents (While You Still Can)

“These hands belonged to the feistiest woman I knew. They comforted me in my hardest times, wrapped around me in times of celebration. They rocked me…and my first born. And even when she forgot who I was, they interlaced mine. Today, I pray you all live like Nana.”

‘Mom, do you think I’m going to die?’ I couldn’t believe it. How could a tick cause all of this?’: Mom shares PSA after daughter’s Chronic Lyme Disease diagnosis, ‘Pay attention to your child’

“She woke up with a high fever, severe neck pain, and over 30 bullseye rashes all over her body. I told myself, ‘Olive will be fine. It’s just a virus.’ Looking back, I feel so guilty I ignored all of the symptoms.”

‘I begged, ‘Please cut my leg off!’ I was drowning in pain while doctors fought over my body like a science experiment.’: Mom becomes amputee after 10-year battle, ‘Love is everything’

“Being in pain for 10 years, I felt like I was going crazy. The pain was as if someone had lit my whole leg on fire while also stabbing it.”

‘It’s not going to work out.’ We read over her file, and KNEW it would be a YES.’: Couple share emotional adoption journey, ‘We’re learning how to be parents’

“She looked tiny. Her facial expression looked like ME as a child. Everyone in the room could see it. We didn’t have a way to let her know how badly we longed to meet her.”

We Aren’t ‘Celebrating Obesity’ — The Truth Behind Body Positivity

“The weight of the words we carry can be just as fatal as the weight of the pounds we carry.”

‘I’ve had a crush on you since high school.’ He was deemed ‘weird.’ Now, he doesn’t try to be normal.’: Woman marries Autistic man, ‘He knows me by heart’

“When he tries to talk, he stutters, he loses his words, and people don’t always understand him. So, he lets me talk. I couldn’t wish for a better person.”

‘It might be something nasty.’ I sat in a waiting room, surrounded by men 40 years my senior. Nothing can prepare you for this.’: Ballet dancer raises awareness for bladder cancer

“I thought I had a UTI. ‘We have to remove it just in case.’ I couldn’t believe this horrible thing had been growing in my body.”

‘At 9:00 a.m. Thanksgiving Eve, my phone rang. ‘It’s time.’ Nothing could have prepared me.’: Chronic illness warrior receives life-saving liver transplant after triple diagnosis

“‘There are only 400-500 cases in the United States.’ I was a 30-year-old healthy, young woman ready to embrace a new decade and start her family. But being 30, as I was going to quickly find out, would have a whole other meaning.”

‘I lost control of my legs. ‘Call an ambulance!’ My tongue started to go down my throat. The pain was excruciating.’: Chronic illness warrior shares journey with fibromyalgia, POTS

“’Will you be able to drive? Work full time? Have children?’ I struggled to accept my fate. Secretly, I hoped I’d recover.”

‘I grabbed her hand and yelled, ‘RUN!’ The rush of people overtook me. I fell underneath thousands running for their lives.’: Woman survives Las Vegas mass shooting, ‘I live a life that matters now’

“The ‘a-ha’ lightbulb went off and fight-or-flight kicked in. That moment when you think of your kids, your husband, your family, who you may never see again.”

‘I gave my new daughter her first little pink toothbrush. ‘It’s time to brush, sweetie!’ She asked, ‘What’s that?’ Surely she was joking.’: Mom says ‘adoption isn’t for the faint of heart’

“She studied the contents of her plate. ‘Why are you feeding me GRASS?’ I screamed in my mind. How could she not know what salad looks like?”

‘Mary Kate’s eye is drooping a little. Do you see that?’ I felt the air leaving my body.’: Brain cancer warrior passes away days before second birthday, ‘She’s guiding us every step of the way’

“One day, she could barely open her left eye. You know those situations in your life when everything changes and you didn’t even see it coming? This was one of those.”

‘We met him in the parking lot. Our kid was leaving for 8 hours, going who knows where with God knows who.’: Foster parents celebrate reunification, ‘Every awkward moment was worth it’

“We were DEVASTATED. The whiplash of emotions was too much. ‘I have every intention of keeping you in her life.’ It wasn’t typical in foster care.”

‘I found the strength to tell our 5-year-old, ‘Daddy’s never coming home.’: Widow finds love with late husband’s namesake, ‘It was meant to be this way’

“’Is it weird I share the same name as your late husband?’ I told him, ‘Yes, it is.’ He said, ‘You can call me by my middle name, Andrew.’ I turned white as a ghost.”

‘I sat in a hospital room as we mourned her mother’s last breaths. I held her trembling siblings.’: Couple fosters 9 kids, adopts 1, ‘Their arms around your neck are worth it’

“I rocked this child to sleep for 13 months. She knew me as her mom. We had NO idea what to expect for the future.”

‘Let me tell it STRAIGHT, there’s days I feel like I’m babysitting someone else’s kids.’: Foster mom details journey, ‘We’ve learned to love them as our own’

“They’d been with 4 different families in the last 6 months. The kids needed someone who could teach them to be a friend, to love others, to be kind, and to just be good human beings.”

‘Crumbs in the sheets. Worrying about the next career move. Life is messy. Don’t just clean up, laugh in the mess.’: Woman shares powerful reminder ‘only you know what your heart needs’

“You only have this life and the clock started ticking the day you were born. Let go of their approval. You’ll never be remembered for the house, anyway.”

‘He wouldn’t give me my son. He slammed me into the wall so hard I blacked out.’: Woman shares heartbreaking story of abuse, ‘You don’t realize it’s not right until it’s too late’

“I was pregnant and with my kids’ dad at the time, so I didn’t give him the time of day. He told me he had herpes. Just like that. After a year, and he is just now telling me.”

‘My mind is always racing, and I can’t turn it off.’: Special needs mom gets candid about mental health, urges ‘find the joy’

“I know immediately when someone is being genuine with me, and when someone is just ‘getting along to get along.'”

‘Just stop being OCD and relax!’ I wish I could. Trust me.’: Woman gets real about mental health, urges ‘be kind to people’

“I’m convinced my husband is dead if he’s even five minutes late. I can’t drive behind log trucks because I get actual full-on mental pictures of the post-accident carnage. But I do a terrific job of ‘pretending.'”