Love What Matters

Love What Matters For sponsorship inquiries, email [email protected]

The premier platform for feel-good stories that remind us to Our pain. Successes.

OUR STORY

A resident of New York, Colin Balfe founded Love What Matters back in 2015 after his mother passed from ovarian cancer. Knowing he would have a difficult time with her death, his mother prompted him to find a way to use his grief, creativity, and sensitivity to create something beautiful to bring to the world. Amid his personal journey with grief, Colin developed a new perspective on li

fe and found he was not alone in his feelings of grief, loss, and heartache, or in his search for meaning. What started as just a page with extraordinary stories, Love What Matters grew into a destination media platform. We now operate across multiple platforms, site, newsletter, YouTube, podcast, print, and so much more. Here at Love What Matters, our mission is simple: to spread real stories by real people just like you far and wide that celebrate the love, compassion, kindness, and overcoming. In doing so, we hope to remind others that these things do not happen by default; they’re a daily choice.

➣ Visit our website: https://www.lovewhatmatters.com/

OUR MISSION

These stories are bigger than any one of us, yet they represent every one of us. Our vulnerabilities. Weaknesses. Flaws. Generosity. And, of course, our hopes and dreams about who we aspire to be. One of the first of its kind, we are a positive news movement that yearns to be the much-needed bright spot on your feed or device, balancing out the seemingly inescapable dark and heavy news we are struck with in our everyday lives. With our new and improved newsletter, Living Better, which has amassed over 210,000 readers to date, we aim to provide evidence-backed advice, actionable steps, and moving stories to inspire and rally you to live your most fulfilling life.

➣ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.lovewhatmatters.com/newsletter/

OUR EDITORIAL PROCESS

Subject matter:

Whether first-person stories or highly-researched articles, we cover a range of topics including love and relationships, kindness, grief healing, family, and parenting, all with one common denominator: to remind you what matters most in life. How we publish content:

At Love What Matters, you are our top priority. We want our editorial process and standards to be clear and transparent, so here are some important highlights on how it all works:

Small but mighty, our highly-skilled editorial team discovers, curates, edits, and publishes compelling first-person stories from first-time or recurring contributors, making sure they are grammatically sound, accurate, and up-to-date before our cursors hit the publish button. In addition to first-person stories, our outstanding and seasoned freelance team crafts articles that provide highly-researched and accurate tips, advice, and information pertaining to our audience-favorite topics. Submissions process:

In addition to the hidden gem stories our editorial team discovers, we accept first-person story submissions through our website’s submission portal for publishing consideration and development, no matter what stage you are in your draft. Once you submit your story to our submissions portal, our editorial team will get back to you as soon as possible via the email address you’ve provided with requests for additional details, photos, or crediting information as needed. Once all the necessary materials are obtained, we will begin building your story behind-the-scenes until it is fully edited, polished, and ready to go live on our site. We cordially invite domain experts and individuals with a powerful story to share to submit any time.

➣ Submit your story: https://www.lovewhatmatters.com/submissions/

Diversity pledge:

As an editorial team who specializes in publishing first-person storytelling, inclusivity is extremely important to us. We believe in the value and importance of sharing stories from all walks of life, and the power it has to foster a more empathetic and kind world. For this reason, we are deeply committed to elevating stories, voices, and perspectives from individuals across all races, sexes, gender identities, sexual orientations, religions, ages, body types, cultures, abilities, and experiences. HAVE FEEDBACK? We would love to hear from you! If you have a comment, suggestion, or question, please feel free to contact us any time at [email protected]. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

"Are you going to try for a girl?’ I already had 3 boys. Strangers asked me this over and over again for years.’: Mom of...
11/14/2025

"Are you going to try for a girl?’ I already had 3 boys. Strangers asked me this over and over again for years.’: Mom of 3 boys suffers miscarriage, ‘It showed us what unconditional love is really about."

“I spent nearly 12 years with a man I probably never should’ve married. He never physically hurt me, but he left me feel...
11/14/2025

“I spent nearly 12 years with a man I probably never should’ve married. He never physically hurt me, but he left me feeling very unloved and undesired. I thought if I just loved harder, tried more, and focused on the positive, it would get better. But it never did. He never touched me. He always worked late. We fought about my weight, about my goals and aspirations, and about money."

“Okay, here it goes… my husband and I sleep in separate rooms.He’s downstairs, and I’m all the way upstairs in my privat...
11/14/2025

“Okay, here it goes… my husband and I sleep in separate rooms.

He’s downstairs, and I’m all the way upstairs in my private mom-cave, and I’m telling you guys it is a little slice of heaven.

Because I don’t like sharing a bed — with anyone, never have. Their breathing, their moving, their hogging of the covers, their trips to the bathroom wake me up, and once I’m awake, I’m awake. There’s no settling back in and drifting off to sleep again for me. Nope. For the rest of the night, I’m staring at the ceiling.

So, for all 11 years of our marriage, I’ve had my own room."

"I laid awake at night, my stomach in knots, terrified it was the boy embryo that took. I couldn’t even picture raising ...
11/14/2025

"I laid awake at night, my stomach in knots, terrified it was the boy embryo that took. I couldn’t even picture raising a boy. It brought me to tears. Full blown survivor’s guilt."

(Link Below)

"His stomach was swelling. ‘If I don’t make it, I need you to promise me you’ll remarry. We’re not meant to do life by o...
11/14/2025

"His stomach was swelling. ‘If I don’t make it, I need you to promise me you’ll remarry. We’re not meant to do life by ourselves.": Woman urges ‘each day is a gift’ after losing husband to Stage IV Stomach Cancer

"On May 31, my world ended. Life was never going to be the same for any of our family or friends again. It should have b...
11/14/2025

"On May 31, my world ended. Life was never going to be the same for any of our family or friends again. It should have been Rogie’s stag weekend Liverpool. There was laughter and fun, and it was one of the best nights. I went to bed and knew nothing until one of our friends was in my bedroom at around 5.30 a.m., saying, ‘Louise, wake up. It’s Rogie, he’s had an accident."

“When I was 6 weeks old, I went to have an ultrasound for tummy issues and they noticed my ovaries were not hooked up ri...
11/14/2025

“When I was 6 weeks old, I went to have an ultrasound for tummy issues and they noticed my ovaries were not hooked up right. The doctor at the time felt it would be best to remove them completely. When I was 13 years old, I found out I would never be able to have children. It was then that I started researching adoption. As I grew older my biggest fear was to have to someday tell a prospective spouse that I would never be able to birth our children. Then I met Jason. He was a single dad to 2 wonderful little boys and we fell head over heels.

Before we got engaged, I told him the biggest secret of my life. One that only a handful of people knew about me. I sobbed as I told him. He then grabbed my face and told me it didn’t matter how our children came to us."

"I kissed my sweet husband goodbye and told him to be strong and hold on for me and the baby – he said he would.We began...
11/14/2025

"I kissed my sweet husband goodbye and told him to be strong and hold on for me and the baby – he said he would.

We began the induction process Wednesday night with hopes of a quick labor and vaginal birth.

Those plans changed in an instant when a team of ICU doctors entered my room Thursday morning at 8 a.m. with the news that Jb was declining fast and had a matter of a few hours."

(Link Below)

“It was a warm summer evening and I was counting down the minutes until my husband and I could leave for our date. It ha...
11/14/2025

“It was a warm summer evening and I was counting down the minutes until my husband and I could leave for our date. It had been ages since we had been able to get away on our own. My in-laws had agreed to watch our 18-month-old daughter, Preslee, while we attended a movie. As soon as we walked through the door, Preslee took off running to join her older cousins. As I said goodbye and attempted to sneak in a quick little hug before we left, she quickly ran past me and never looked back. I smiled as I watched her play and thought to myself, ‘It will only be a couple of hours.’My husband and I enjoyed the next few hours of rare found freedom.

As we were driving out of the parking lot and headed back to my in-laws’ home, Patrick made a call to an unknown number that had called during the movie. In seconds, the atmosphere in the car changed. I could hear Patrick’s voice mix with desperation and fear as he spoke to the person on the other end of the line. I panicked as he suddenly made a U-turn and raced through a red light. I instantly knew something was terribly wrong."

"After one year and twelve menstrual cycles, we were classified as struggling with infertility.I didn’t feel infertile o...
11/14/2025

"After one year and twelve menstrual cycles, we were classified as struggling with infertility.

I didn’t feel infertile or hopeless; I was just slightly disappointed. Trying to get pregnant was like an app running in the background of my life—I spent little time thinking about it because we had time.

Unfortunately, we spent the next few years getting tested, meeting with a fertility doctor, and confirming his diagnosis of unexplained infertility.

I crumbled into a fiery heap of long-standing despair, denial, and overwhelming grief. It was a Sunday morning at church when my heart’s dam broke, and tears flooded me. I folded my skirt beneath me and let my emotions take over my body. I reached for the thin toilet paper to sop up my tears, my head pounding in a reckoning of my reality."

“What’s the best thing that ever happened to you? Bit of a loaded question, huh? Some people might answer with their wed...
11/14/2025

“What’s the best thing that ever happened to you? Bit of a loaded question, huh? Some people might answer with their wedding day, or the day their first child was born – something that set the scene for a beautiful life thereafter and changed their world view forever. Happy events, good fortune perhaps. What’s the best thing that ever happened to me, you ask? Easy – getting cancer."

"Our first child and only son, Sky Charles Hipp, was born on November 24, 2008 at 4:17 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds exactly ...
11/14/2025

"Our first child and only son, Sky Charles Hipp, was born on November 24, 2008 at 4:17 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds exactly and was 18.5 inches long. Absolutely perfect in every way and the greatest blessing to our lives! He had his daddy’s big, beautiful blue eyes and my long fingers and toes. He was the light of our life and such a blessing to both our families. We were the most proud parents and truly the happiest people in the world. Sky was perfect and we felt like nothing could stop us; we had it all.

I remember calling my husband, but I don’t remember what I said. He says all he can remember from that day was hearing my scream when he answered the phone."

Address

129 West 29th Street
New York, NY
10001

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