LOVE LIST STORIES

Love Lists reduce anxiety and depression by unleashing joy, even in one’s darkest moments.

A Love List is a brainstorm of all the reasons you love someone and what makes them unique. A Love List is sweet, funny, sexy, or serious. It can include any number — from five to fifteen to fifty — of loving attributes, characteristics, or memories about someone.

The Love List is no-cost and easy to make, yet it leaves a long-lasting and profound impact on both the creator and gift recipient.

Profound Stories of Love Lists:

Rosemerry created a Love List for her friend, Sally, who was 80 years old and given two months to live. “What was I going to give her? A necklace? A shirt? I needed to let her know that she had profoundly changed my life and affected me in the deepest of ways. The Love List enabled me to show up for her and say, “I’m here and I love you.” I didn’t want to hold anything back.

Melisa Brown said, “Last year I downloaded Sherry’s printable, wrote on it by hand, and mailed it to my mother-in-law. She cried! A good cry! She told everyone that it was the best gift she could have received. I did the same for friends’ birthdays this year, and one friend said that no one had EVER told her things that they loved about her. A friend is having surgery today for cancer, and it dawned on me this morning to create a Joy Jar for her after I watched Sherry’s video from the email she sent out!! I am sure it will help her recovery!”

Laurie Wagner’s friends held a Love List Party for her and each friend read their Love List aloud. Laurie said, “My birthday was a-love-fest-that-brought-me-to-tears. After all your beautiful words, I found myself quiet and grounded. Even now I still feel that way. Your reflections of me were profoundly important – they helped me remember – in all my mishagosh – who I am and what I stand for. All I have to do is be me and remember.”

Just one month after Wendy’s husband had passed away she created a Love List for him. “That Love List was one of the most Beautiful and healing things that I did in the beginning of my grief journey/process. Remembering the specifics about someone we love is so healing no matter where we are in our grieving process. It was such a positive experience for me and gave me the chance to celebrate Chris.”

When Cindia’s mom entered hospice, it was heartbreaking. Cindia wanted to do something to bring love and joy to her parents. She knew she had a choice about how to go through this challenging experience with them and she chose to bring love. She said, “Instead of lamenting or regretting this huge loss to come, I thought, “why not bring my parents joy?” Remembering Sherry’s idea of the Love Lists, I began writing one list for my mom and one for my dad. I wrote qualities and memories that I loved. And I wrote things to make them laugh, like When I was little they were teaching me about expressing love and they would say, “We love you more than pickles! I remembered this and wrote on their lists, “I love you more than bacon and ice-cream!” After Cindia wrote all her Love List items, she cut them into strips and made each parent a container filled with love. She gave them to her parents and they went back and forth, pulling strips out and reading them aloud for the other to hear. They read one after the other and shared memories that came up as they did so, it was absolutely beautiful. “Because of the inspired ideas of the Love Lists, this heartbreaking moment in time became a celebration,” Cindia said.

Sara read about the Love List idea in Sherry’s newsletter. On a whim, she and her children created Love Lists for Sara’s husband and their dad, for his 53rd birthday. They said he’s a great listener. He makes them laugh. He always helps people in need. Chris cried with joy when he read those Love Lists. Just a few months later, Chris died suddenly from a heart attack. We just don’t know how much time we have with our loved ones. Sara was so grateful that they had expressed their love to Chris — that his last gifts from them let him know how much he mattered.

Ali gave a Love List to her friend — very simply written in a birthday card. Her friend said it was the best birthday card she’d ever received. She thanked Ali for seeing her gifts because she has a hard time seeing the good in herself. Ali said, “Love Lists are so simple and a sweet unique gift that shows someone how much they matter.”

Kim’s mom was 88 years old and battling stage four cancer. She had been feeling depressed and was giving up on life. Kim wanted her mom to feel happiness at this last stage of her life, so Kim wrote a Love List. She wrote a list of reasons she loves her mother. Kim told her mom, “I love that you taught me to give to those less fortunate. ”I love your elegance and class.” “I love how brave and beautiful you are.” When she finished reading it, Kim’s mom looked up and said “This is life-changing. This is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Nicole was feeling distant from her teenage son and she said, “I wanted to create this for my teenage son, even though I wasn’t sure he would totally get it right now. But it just seemed important to do for him. And more importantly, I wanted to do it for myself— in order to give myself the gift of turning all my attention to everything I love about him. It was so important to do —for both of us!”

Love List Example:

Other Love List Examples

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