Love What Matters

Kids’ Work Ethic Is In A Crisis And We, The Parents, Have A Lot To Do With It

Work ethic is similar to a muscle. It can be strengthened with proper training, or weakened with misuse.

How I Learned To Appreciate My Anxiety

“Although anxiety is not absent in my life, it is no longer in control.”

‘He couldn’t stand. His legs were completely limp.’: Mom donates kidney to save medically-complex son

“And so, it began, test after test, specialist after specialist.”

‘You’re moving way too fast. If he loves you, he’ll wait.’ Were we crazy? Maybe. But were we in love? Absolutely!’: Couple move in together after 6 weeks of dating, get married 6 weeks later

“I was pushed into signing up for Match.com by a friend. For 3 weeks, I received message after message from guys who didn’t understand that my kids came first. But one day, I received a message from a man who took the time to read my profile and challenged me to prove that I did, in fact, make the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. Little did I know it would change the course of the rest of my life.”

‘This Mother’s Day I will close my eyes and she will be whole.’: Daughter reflects on ‘gifts of memories’ before mom had dementia

“In my memories, she is laughing with me. She says my name. She walks to me. She laughs at her Mother’s Day card.”

‘Everybody is grieving. That’s why.’ Widow embraces beauty of strangers who supported her during funeral procession

“I’ll be honest, I had to sit back and ask myself why. Why would all these people come out to stand in the hot sun and hold signs and cry for a man that they never had dinner with, never had a beer with, never even had a conversation with. Why would they do that?”

‘I never signed up for this’: Mom of severely autistic daughter thanks the ‘difference-makers’ who ‘deliberately’ step into the world of autism

“They learn to see what others can’t see in your ‘difficult child.’ They love what other people would find unlovable.”

A Letter To My Little Brother Living With A Disability

“Dear Isaac, I know you can’t ever read this but maybe one day I will read it to you. Maybe one day you will understand.”

I’m Not Ashamed To Say I Sobbed When I Saw My Bride Walking Down The Aisle

“When I saw her walking towards me, I just couldn’t breathe. I’ve never seen anything so stunning and beautiful in my life. Here she was, my everything that was and everything to be, looking absolutely breathtaking.”

‘My mom crossed the border, so I could cross the stage.’: Family details ‘inspiring’ immigration challenges

“Ask me for my papers and I will show you my Bachelor’s.”

‘He said she looked fine, but that my milk probably didn’t have enough calories in it for what she needed. It felt like someone had taken a knife to my chest when he said that’

“I stripped her down to a dry diaper and walked her to the scale. The numbers seemed to take forever to stop scrolling… but when they did, my heart sunk. I gazed down at my sweet Lucy, her skin just sagging off of her.”

‘In the end, Kaylie was able to give the gift of life to 6 people.’: Teen in prom night crash saves lives after her death

“Only 15 minutes after she told me she loved me, she was ejected more than 50 feet from the car that was taking her and her friends to the Senior prom.”

‘My teacher pulled the fire alarm while we were barricading the door’: HERO TEACHER’S quick thinking ‘to get everyone out’ of Santa Fe school shooting

“We had no service to call 911 to let anyone know there was a shooter because our wing is completely almost separate from the rest of the school.”

‘That’s not fundraising; it’s panhandling’: Mom’s hilarious take on school fundraising

“Thinking back to my own youth, I don’t remember anyone suggesting we just sit outside the hardware store with a bucket and an expectation.”

10 Reasons Your Child Is Waking Up At 3 A.M.

“1. They’re not sure if they’ve heard Yanny or Laurel. This is a big one.”

food containers and utensils cluttered on stovetop

I’ll Never Be Perfect, But Thankfully I Don’t Need To Be

“The reality is, we all struggle because the truth is simple. None of us are perfect.”

Father sitting on chair smiling with his daughter and non-verbal autistic son

My Reality As A Father To A 7-Year-Old With Non-Verbal Autism

“To put it bluntly, it’s like sipping on the world’s greatest champagne while people chugging warm Kool-Aid pity you for it.”

‘As a police officer, I always trusted my gut. But this time felt different. My heart was pounding, my thoughts scattering. I knew something was about to happen.’

“I slowed my breathing down and prepared for entry. As I touched the door knob…BAM! I never saw it coming! My vision was gone. I heard several loud bangs. On the radio I could hear, ‘OFFICER DOWN!’ What? ‘Wait a minute. Am I the officer down?!’ The next thing I remember I was in a weird place, swelling and turning blue.”

‘As a kid, I hated being black’: Student overcomes addiction, poverty, ADHD and mental illness to excel, attend HARVARD

“I am here today because I had a teacher who believed in me.”

‘Does your child have any special challenges I should be aware of?’ Mom’s journey through Autism and Lyme Disease

“How could I tell his new teacher just how much my son has to overcome because his mama simply isn’t like the other moms in his class?”

‘Nana, when you get to heaven, please send me lots of pennies.’: Grandmother sends winks from heaven in the form of pennies to symbolize her ‘deep love’

“Immediately after her passing, I started finding pennies. Not just a few, but dozens and dozens of pennies. Those dozens turned into hundreds and hundreds of pennies.”