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by Hope

Please help me congratulate this AMAZING son of mine! He has officially passed his Basic EMS test and can now work in his chosen field. Woot, woot!

He is continuing his schooling this summer and will test for his Advanced EMS this fall either here or in California. As planned, he will be departing at the end of July to serve with Americorps FEMA for a year.

I am so, so proud of him. For those of you new to following me, I will give you a brief history of Sea Cadet…

Sea Cadet’s Story

Sea Cadet grew up in a transient home, essentially homeless until he was 12 years old and both of his parents were incarcerated. He along with his 4 siblings were placed in foster care, Sea Cadet and his identical twin brother (History Buff) were placed with me. They were in 7th grade and attending public schools. They had attended at least 6 different schools at that point, and were performing at a 3rd/4th grade level academically.

Sea Cadet had a speech impediment, couldn’t see (he needed glasses) and had an IEP through the special ed department that provided him additional support for a variety of other things. Their goal for him was to ride the public buses alone someday. I was floored when I first heard this after having him in my home for about a month at that time.

The twins had been bullied their whole lives and just passed on through the system. I received special permission to pull Sea Cadet out of public school in order to work with him as a homeschooled student. It was intense and not always pleasant for either of us. But we had an amazing homeschool community who just surrounded him and accepted him and nurtured him and pushed him.

He graduated from high school a year late and dove into this EMS program…and here we are. He’s gotten his drivers license, holds down a job and the boy they described in those initial IEP papers just doesn’t exist anymore.

What’s Next for Sea Cadet

He is a true testimony of what I’ve always believed, sometimes all it takes is for someone to tell you that you can do something.

Sea Cadet has a heart for serving…he is a volunteer firefighter in our local community, participates in the local Police Explorers program and will soon begin work as an EMT before serving a year with Americorp. I don’t know exactly what his future holds, but I can’t see anything but a fantastic adventure ahead and he is ready for it!

Hope

Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.

But life has a way of rewriting your plans.

A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.

Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.

Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.

She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.