Growing up with a Mom and Dad who devoted their life to raising their 5 children and loving us so hard, I spent my childhood thinking that all families were like this.  I truly believed that all kids had 2 parents, a few siblings, and spent their weekends going from one soccer practice to the next because that is what all families look like, right?  I was fortunate enough to grow up always feeling loved, supported, and never alone.  Then right after college I found my “person”, fell in love, got married, bought a house and had a beautiful baby boy.  I got a taste of the family I always envisioned having – 2 parents, a beautiful home, and a baby to love with both of our hearts.  To me – this was the beginning of what a family looked like – I just needed to add at least one more child to feel complete.

Unbeknownst to me at the time – I was living in a bubble.  This bubble served as an emotional forcefield protecting me from the reality of the world we live in consisting of tragedy, soul wrenching loss,  mental health illnesses, physical disabilities to overcome,  domestic violence, verbal/physical abuse, and the list goes on and on.  It is because of all of these struggles that  different types of family structures exist,( i.e. Nuclear, Single Parent, Extended, Step-parent, Grandparent, and Childless) .   Of course I knew that all of these awful things happened to other people, but this couldn’t possibly happen to my own family, right?  Within a matter of seconds I went from having the family I always dreamed of – my purpose in life – to attempting to survive a tragedy, experiencing soul wrenching loss for the first time, and my family no longer having 2 loving parents doting over their amazing child.  My bubble burst and for the first time in my entire life I am being forced to figure out a way to survive without my protective forcefield and my amazing husband holding my hand every step of the way.

One of the hardest feelings to go through in the beginning was feeling so alone.  I believed that there must be something truly wrong with me to feel alone because I was not alone in the traditional sense.   I was surrounded by so many people who love me and my little boy and would do absolutely anything for us.  Over time – and lots of therapy- I learned that feeling alone doesn’t just mean in the physical sense; you can feel emotionally alone too.   When my bubble burst, it forced me to see things in a completely different way: For the first time in my life I opened my eyes to actually see the emotional struggles everyone deals with on a daily basis and that I am not alone.  I have always been en extremely empathetic person when it came to my family and friends and I realize now that I was turning a blind eye to others around me.  I didn’t know how to handle their pain and suffering because how could I help them? I am only one person.   YOU. Captured (A business my best friend and I started but currently on hold) has showed me that I actually can and has been the driving force to helping me discover a potential new purpose in my life – outside of being a loving mother to my 3 year old.

As far back as I can remember I have always found that I could connect to almost anyone no matter their gender, age, or personality with ease – my husband always told me it was a gift.  This of course made it easy to be social and make a lot of friends but I knew it my heart that I needed to use this gift to help others.  YOU. Captured has helped me to see the light inside myself that I felt for so long had gone away.   My hope is that through YOU. Captured we can help others find the light and strength with-in us, embrace our journey, and find our purpose and happiness we all deserve.  Life is too short!