September brought the familiar chaos of a new school year, but for Kassie, everything felt like she was swimming upstream. Lee was starting seventh grade with new social pressures and hormonal changes that made him moody and distant. Aaron was in fifth grade, his energy levels somehow even higher now that he’d discovered tackle football. Marie was in third grade, obsessed with perfecting her cheer routines and complaining that all her friends had cooler clothes than she did.
Managing three children with different needs while caring for eight-month-old Emma and dealing with her own unpredictable health challenges felt overwhelming on the best days. On the worst days, when her joints were so swollen she could barely get out of bed, it felt impossible.
Emma was crawling everywhere now, pull
