I'm Kristi, a professional writer, retired college English instructor, occasional wedding officiant, and owner/lead designer for This Love, a vintage rental/props house and event styling studio (formerly known as Driftwood Vintage).
Justin is my husband and partner of nearly 18 years, and a super intelligent man gifted at everything he does.
Arthur and Noah are our "pretend twins"--they're cousins and brothers, 4 months apart in age. They are two of the most incredibly sharp and independently minded six year olds I've ever met, and they could not be more different.
Noah is the eldest, my brother's son. He is moderately autistic, but does such a wonderful job practicing self-control that people sometimes struggle to believe he is on the spectrum at all. Noah has an incredibly resilient and strong spirit and is an excellent advocate for autism awareness despite his young age. He has a naturally positive disposition, Noah is completely obsessed with cars and likes every car ever built. He's also an ice cream connoisseur, with a special passion for chocolate flavors. He is one of the most compassionate and sweet-spirited people you'll ever meet. He attends public school, where he is in an excellent autism program.
Arthur is our biological son and firstborn. While Noah is well-served in public school, Arthur had little patience for traditional education. His homeschool lessons are uniquely tailored to his individual interests as a supergeek, which include everything that has ever had a fandom...ever. Arthur's hobbies include selling his sketches to strangers at the laundromat, writing fanfic, and thinking of sweet mashups. He is also a pretty hardcore brony.
Lucy is the insane, rough-and-tumble little sister. She's three, and she enjoys screaming, eating rocks, throwing rocks, putting rocks in her pockets, and other rock-related activities. She's also into dirt, throwing things, screaming, the color pink, princesses, public nudity, butterflies, and combining liquid with inappropriate objects, including the floor, computers, and her dinner plate.
All three kids are hardcore Doctor Who and Katy Perry fans.
In 2013, we began throwing off the ties that bound us to a life we had no control over. After nearly 15 years as a young, carefree scuppie couple, we'd gone through an asteroid field of tragedy on our way into parenting. As we struggled to adjust to working long hours as new parents, something unimaginable happened: my younger brother died unexpectedly at the age of 32, leaving behind a young, autistic son in our care. Soon after, my long-estranged mother began to need full-time care, which my healthy, middle-aged father was struggling to provide alone.
Even despite the tragedies, our lives were not what we wanted for ourselves or our children. Realizing that despite our ongoing financial struggles, we had no time for our children, each other, or even ourselves, and we walked away from our professional careers as a college English teacher and restaurant manager to embrace a simpler way of living.
When we traded living in our beloved downtown home for a tiny house on a ten-acre family compound to help care for a parent, we learned the real meaning of "downsize"; since then, we have been learning to adapt to an entirely different way of living from anything we've known.
We have thrown out the script and are writing our story as we go, and it is sometimes profound and inspired, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking or simply insane, but always amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment