Hey y'all!!!
It has been a while and so much has happened. I will try my best to keep this efficient and short.
To start, this year asked me to move differently, and I did.
I stepped into special needs advocacy full-time, walking alongside about five families through some very tender seasons. That work widened when the city turned an autistic boy named Emmanuel over to ICE, instead of sending him home with his mother. I spent nearly a month outside the ORR facility, sitting, waiting, and staying, because the systems involved had no standards and no coordination. Emmanuel was treated like he wasn’t fully human, and that harm matters.
There has been no accountability, which is why I’m still telling the truth. That experience became a mini-series on my podcast, holding space for the reality that special needs looks different behind every closed door.
At home, life kept unfolding in all the ways life does.
Cyana moved back home this summer and has been with us ever since. She’s in school to become an educator, and having her under our roof again has been grounding in ways I didn’t know we needed.
Alyssa started 9th grade, joined dance, and after trying a few business ideas, found her happy place in nail tech and press-on designs. Watching her settle into something she enjoys has been a gift.
Noah returned to school, and he’s doing so well that he’ll be transitioning back into general education next semester. That one still catches in my throat sometimes.
Jace started kindergarten and has lost six teeth in the last month, which feels excessive, but very on brand for him. I suspect he took after his mother and has a touch of the ADHD.
Our family home was fully remodeled, and the inside feels like us again. Safe, warm, lived-in. The outside will come in time and maybe I'll document that for y'all online.
Community life continues through The Hows (House), the space relaunched out of Cris’s city council campaign. That’s where we gather, work, and build. It’s always home to The F.A.M, Facing All Moments, which quietly rebranded and relaunched this year and is now moving into a reactivation. Membership is $10 a month, and every paid membership supports a sibling who can’t afford access, because community only works if everyone belongs.
My operations support work is now limited to two clients a year. That work lives here on Buy Me a Coffee.
Looking ahead, The F.A.M will host regular co-working days at The Hows (House), and our Family Feast is set for January. I’ll continue leaning into special needs advocacy, telling the truth where it’s uncomfortable, and holding space where it’s needed.
If you’re a member here, reach out. You’ve got a FAMily Membership waiting for you.
Sister Cathena will also be checking in with siblings soon to see how they’re doing and how they’d like to be involved.
If you need to find me elsewhere, here’s where the work lives now:
https://www.howdyfam.com - The F.A.M, formerly WEM
https://www.spedadvocatehtx.com - Special Needs Advocacy work
https://www.cathirae.com - My personal site, where the childrens chronicles can be found
https://www.instagram.com/by_rae_and_co - The most active social I’m on. But remember, I am still me 😆
This will likely be my last personal update here. Personal reflections will live on my personal site moving forward. This space will be more focused on operations and business conversations, but you’re always welcome.
Thank you for loving my kids, my work, and our family the way you do.
TTFN