Unbreakable

I would like to think of myself as unbreakable - unbreakable, determined and committed to those values that inspire me and propel me forward.... advocating for my son with autism has been life changing and life altering and unending.

To be able to give a voice to his needs is an honor. The reality is that although I cherish my son and all that he stands for there are times when unbreakable is not how I feel. I feel highly breakable and fragile since the boulder that I push uphill for him is on a trail that is uncharted, unknown and unexplored.

He is 18. He is nonverbal. He is vulnerable on one hand and fiercely independent on the other.

It can take him 30 minutes to walk from the house to the barn studio where he works because it is "one of those OCD days that require 1 step forward, 15 back, 2 forward and 2 back."  I cannot know what this must feel like for him and to see him conquer this limitation, fight for himself to get through it, is inspiring to me.

When I created this business for him, no one believed we would sell one single thing (except me of course with an optimistic spirit), and here we are 500 sales later. It has taken me time to get here, blood, sweat tears, blisters, and hard work, but we now have our own little studio carved out of our 1800's barn and it is both my refuge and my isolation.

Running a successful business takes dedication and an eye and ear toward customer satisfaction. I have learned despite my best efforts not everyone will love everything, but I hope that they know all of the products are made with a true love of the process from creation to completion and that for Andrew it is a lifesaving skill and occupation. It is the difference between a vacuum of a life and a purpose filled life.

We have one side of the barn completed which is already chock full of stuff and hope to renovate the "working side " of the barn in the next 6 months...

cate

labeling is a favorite task

He uses baskets to set up his work.