ETB 56: From Parenting to Publishing: The Story Behind the Creation of Eleanor's eXtraordinary Dreams with Carlee Ragains

ETB 56: Ready to journey into the heartwarming world of Carlee Ragains, a creative spirit, mother, wife, and mimi?  Carlee's story weaves a rich tapestry of love, courage, and perseverance, as she shares the joys, challenges, and unimaginable fulfillment that come from parenting her 16-year-old daughter, Ellen, who was born with Down syndrome. Carlee paints a vibrant portrait of Ellen, a high functioning, verbal, independent, sensitive, and personality-packed young woman - an inspiring beacon of hope and testament to the beauty of embracing uniqueness.

Carlee's creativity doesn't stop at parenting; she has harnessed her experiences and channeled them into the creation of a beautiful children's book. Would you believe the ideas for this book started flowing in the shower? This book aims to promote self-advocacy, create connections, and foster understanding about disabilities. Carlee talks about her journey from an initial rejection by a publisher to eventually seeing her labor of love come to life.

Carlee dreams big. She envisions a series of books that illuminate different diagnoses and disabilities, engaging readers in an inviting and non-threatening way. This woman's relentless optimism and her dreams for her daughter to thrive are as beautiful as her project. So, if you're ready to be inspired, uplifted and enlightened, this is an episode you don't want to miss. Come, join us on this journey of celebrating uniqueness and potential in all children, regardless of their abilities.

Connect with Carlee
Newsletter:
https://mailchi.mp/498c1a387cc6/bqr1oq075o
IG: @carleeragainswrites
Blog: https://carleeragains.wordpress.com

Eleanor's eXtraordinary Dreams Illustrator:
Megan Webber
Megan's IG:  @megan_webber_art

Eleanor's eXtraordinary Dreams Publisher:
https://unitedhousepublishing.com/

Connect with Sandy:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sandydeppisch
Embrace the Blessing Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/ETB4ME
Website: http://www.embracetheblessing.com/

Transcript

Sandy Deppisch: 0:05

Hey there, I'm Sandy Deppish, and this is the Embrace the Blessing podcast. Each week, I talk with a parent who has a child with a disability. They share their biggest challenge, their greatest joy and their hopes and dreams for the future. You'll learn about resources available to you and discover helpful hints and tips If you want to be inspired and encouraged, stick around. Let's walk the road. Let's travel together. Well, I am so excited to have you here today. I talked to you. It felt like maybe just like a little over a year ago, when you shared this idea that you're going to share with our audience, and it's just happened so fast. From my end, of course, it's like a pregnancy when someone's pregnant, it's always faster for the other people than it is for the pregnant person.

Sandy Deppisch: 0:59

But you have something really exciting to share with our guests and I cannot wait for you to start telling us about it. So, to begin, would you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you.

Carlee Ragains: 1:09

Yes, sure, my name is Carlee Regans and I am a wife, a mom, a me-me Now have several grandchildren, so that's really fun and I would call myself a creative. I mean, I have had several seasons of different aspects. Of that, probably primary one was I spent 17 years in a church as a music minister. So did that. And then this last season my focus has been more on writing and I'm getting ready to release the children's book into the world. So that's really where my focus has been. So love arts and want to develop some of that as well. But, yeah, I'm a mom and a wife, I would say, first and foremost, and then the writing has been the most recent creative endeavor.

Sandy Deppisch: 2:08

So you've not been a writer in the past like that was not something you dabbled in.

Carlee Ragains: 2:14

Oh, I certainly dabbled in it. I mean, I've always loved to write, I've always been a journaler, I've written songs, I've written poetry articles and used writing in what I did, you know, in ministry and whatever. But a book this is the first time that has come up and I've always thought maybe I would write a book, but I didn't know what, what kind and when. This idea kind of surfaced, then I just I tried to lean into that. But it has been a long process actually.

Sandy Deppisch: 2:49

Yeah, wow, and I was not aware about your music ministry background. That's really fascinating.

Carlee Ragains: 2:56

Yeah, that's my like training. I guess that's where my college and seminary and spent a lot of years doing that.

Sandy Deppisch: 3:05

That's amazing, wow, awesome. Well tell us a little bit more about your family. So tell us about your child with special needs.

Carlee Ragains: 3:14

Yeah, so my husband and I have a daughter. Her name is Ellen and she's 16. She's a sophomore in high school. She has Down syndrome. She is, I would say, quite high functioning. She's very verbal, very active, quite independent. I mean, as she gets older I just have to keep reminding myself she is 16. You know, she's not a child anymore. Really, she's a joy. She's just been such a joy to us and to others.

Carlee Ragains: 3:51

She's very what do I want to say? She's very sensitive. That's one of the things that we've noticed through the years. Like when she was younger, she would walk into a room and know who, who needed a hug, you know, and they might be taken aback because you know she would just come and give them a big hug. But to see the response maybe on their faces, of just knowing, oh, that person, you know, may have been kind of on the fringes but she knew, and so that's something about her that I've really appreciated and loved to see. But yeah, she stays active, loves school, loves friends, loves sports, loves to sing and dance, and she has a lot of spunk and a lot of personality.

Carlee Ragains: 4:39

Love her.

Sandy Deppisch: 4:40

Yes, did you know? I didn't prepare you for this, but did you know prior to her birth that she was going to have Down syndrome?

Carlee Ragains: 4:46

We did not, we did not and, to be honest, I didn't even see it when she was born. I just really felt like I don't know, like there was just kind of a veil, like I noticed some things, but I had never had a child and so I didn't think any differently. I do remember very distinctly that the nurses came and basically said we're going to take her for about four and a half hours and we'll bring her back later. And I thought that was weird. But I thought, well, you know, what do I know? And so I don't know. I feel like maybe, you know, the Lord kind of veiled our eyes. I mean, I do believe in sovereignty of God and I believe that he had a plan. And so, yeah, they told us a pediatrician would be there that evening, our pediatrician and so I was like what? That's weird. But again, I didn't know any better. Now I do Right, right.

Carlee Ragains: 5:46

But yeah, we had a wonderful doctor that we had already kind of lined up and he came in and just said what do you know about Down syndrome? You know, and this is what I think is, this is what appears to be the case, and you know, this is a flood of like the questions when you have no clue, you don't know, you don't, you weren't expecting, but then you don't even know what that is. And you know, my husband and I kind of had different responses. He actually the doctor actually told me before my husband arrived because he had gone to take I have three stepchildren who are Older, and so he had gone to take them to eat. And the doctor came and said is your husband here? And I said, no, you know. And so he ended up telling me and then met my husband at the elevator, so kind and gracious, and just said it's gonna be okay. I'm so grateful for a doctor that Came from a positive point of view, because I know so many people have different experiences.

Carlee Ragains: 6:51

And he just said look, I've looked for every possible thing that could be an issue and she was very healthy and, as we said, we prayed for a healthy baby and we got a healthy baby and I know so many With Down syndrome have other challenges heart challenges and so we were really grateful for that and he just said she will do anything she wants to do. It's gonna probably take her longer, but he really gave us that thing of the sky's the limit. Don't set a boundary for her, don't Limit her, and know there's lots of resources. And so I'm very grateful for that and I think a lot of that is why she is very strong, because we just we just went for it.

Sandy Deppisch: 7:40

How phenomenal that you had that amazing experience with such an incredible doctor, because that's not always the case. So he he did a great service to you guys and and to your daughter, because that's yeah, that's not common. Hopefully, things are changing and that will be the way things go in the future and are happening now. I hope, but that's wonderful. So you guys just you kept your expectations high for her.

Carlee Ragains: 8:05

Yeah, yeah, I think you know there's always things that just kind of in the back of your mind, like the long-term things, and but we were surrounded by a great community and people just loved her and included her, and Early on for sure. And so, yeah, we just did all the things you know, all the therapies, and kept her in an Inclusion scenario as long as we could. Ammings, you know, mainstream turn school. There did come a point where we had to shift because she was very frustrated heading into middle school, and so there have been moments, you know, where we've had to kind of face the Kind of reality of it. Oh yeah.

Sandy Deppisch: 8:48

We'll share your greatest joy and parenting your daughter, oh Goodness.

Carlee Ragains: 8:53

I think my greatest joy right now is watching her Kind of come into who she is, like finding the things she loves, that she's passionate about and being very independent. Like you know, sometimes that's a challenge right as a parent, because there's some pushback sometimes. But again, just seeing her really be who she is and Pick her clothes whether they would be what I would do or not, you know, and just Just let her be, I think that's been really fun. And then just in the victories, like for example Yesterday, actually, she's been kind of doing this thing of having a morning routine like that's I have my morning routine and she gets her phone and she records herself because she's been watching these YouTube videos and Really more than I had realized, you know, and she's got all these things and she's like okay, mom, I have my, my routine.

Carlee Ragains: 9:49

And I walked into her bathroom yesterday and saw that she had printed off a Like basic makeup routine and it was sitting beside the same. I was like, oh my goodness, I just had this smile and I just thought, man, she's just so seeing her like own those things. I Think she's doing that more than sometimes I give her credit for, and so just really Releasing her to do that. It's a balance right now.

Sandy Deppisch: 10:16

That is awesome. Yeah, I think with independence, it's always a fine line. We want them to be as independent as possible, but then, I mean with any child, there's some points where it's like you're not quite ready for that level of independence. So we want them to back. You know, and it's it's a hard thing to balance, but, wow, I love her, her willingness to like embrace things. I need to figure out makeup. Let me print out a tutorial. That's incredible. Yeah, so I think I already know the answer to this question, but what inspired you to write a book and tell us a little bit about your book?

Carlee Ragains: 10:50

Yes, well, ultimately, my daughter, she, she is the inspiration for the book, she's the inspiration for the character. I did want it to be a universal thing, so it's not like specifically her story per se, but the characters, totally the main characters, totally designed After Ellen, so our daughter Ellen. The book is called Eleanor's extraordinary dreams and so, yeah, I heard that. I think the thing that Triggered the seed finally to kind of be birthed was about four years ago, actually, I heard an interview with a teacher turned publisher. She was an elementary teacher and she was looking for books on kindness and compassion To read to her kids and to teach those values and to teach to her students, I should say. And she wasn't finding many that she felt were strong and I do think that has changed in the last Few years and I think she's obviously been part of that.

Carlee Ragains: 12:05

But she ended up writing her own books and Found such a need for it that she ended up quitting teaching to publish books, and so I had heard her talking about this and as she was talking, it was like it just lit a spark, like I had the idea. I was like, oh, I need to do this, I can totally write, you know, this story with Ellen kind of as my model or whatever. But it didn't come easy, it didn't come right away. I just could not settle. I'm like, okay, well, at some point and really you know Our experience over the years Ellen has really been received Most of the time. I do have some, you know. There have been some times, like one specifically. We were in a smaller community and I remember seeing pictures on social media of a birthday party of a classmate and it was obvious that the whole class was there and Ellen hadn't been invited and you know um.

Carlee Ragains: 13:10

Obviously, Ellen maybe didn't know right um, but I did you know, and, you know, as a mom, it's like, oh you know, I wish that People were more comfortable. And we also, at the same time, had a, a couple that were friends of ours, that came to us in this same community and said hey, we want to support you, we want to support your daughter. Would you teach us about her? Would you teach us about how you, you know, want to support her and whether it's a discipline or whatever, we would like to come alongside and be a support to you. And, oh, my goodness, you know what a difference that made. Yeah, incredible people, yeah.

Sandy Deppisch: 13:58

I that's. I'm just blown away. Were these people at your church?

Carlee Ragains: 14:03

Um, they were, they were in our community, we were actually overseas and so you know, they were other international people that were kind of in the same community with us and they just were so aware. And that, for me, kind of the contrast of those two things I was, has really stuck with me. And I think a lot of times we People maybe don't reach out or don't Initiate because they're uncomfortable, because they don't know right, just like when we first found out, you know, you do all these what if? Scenarios immediately, like my, my first thought with how long is she gonna live? Well, I had no idea what Down syndrome was, you know. So I think people put up a bit of a wall sometimes because they're uncomfortable, not because they don't want to, they just don't know how.

Carlee Ragains: 14:56

And so really my heart behind this book is a couple of things. One is Kind of a most basic level of self-advocacy, like this character owns her story, owns who she is, and in doing so she Actually creates a connection with another student who is having her own challenges. And so it's kind of a flip to of what you would maybe Initially typically think, that someone would come in and help the person who has the disability, when in reality she's the one, the one with Down syndrome, is the one who reaches out and draws out this other person, which totally is how Ellen is, how our daughter is. And but my heart is to invite people into conversations that Bring some awareness, bring some understanding, take away some of the Uncertainty or the uncomfortability, so that people can get beyond that to not only Reach out to a person who has a disability and engage them as a as a person, as a fellow, you know person in life, but also so that they can benefit from that person.

Carlee Ragains: 16:12

Because I firmly believe that we're all made in the image of God and we all have something that we bring. And I believe that in bearing his image we bear part of his character. And so my husband and I have Been kind of saying to each other or asking the question for I don't know, the last couple of years you know, what is it that we get to see or know about God that we wouldn't know if Ellen didn't have Down syndrome, like what of his character shows up in her Because of her, you know, diagnosis or whatever you want to say that we wouldn't get to experience otherwise. You know, and of course, as a mom, you know. I mean, I've been changed by her.

Carlee Ragains: 17:08

And then that example I gave of her walking into a room and like just having this, you know, unconscious, subconscious awareness of people's needs and so yeah, that's.

Carlee Ragains: 17:23

I really hope to invite people in a non-threatening way, in a fun, whimsical rhyming you know children's picture book, that is very engaging to then be able to say oh like to have a perspective shift and actually in the back of the book we've included discussion questions that teachers can ask children and parents can ask children, so hopefully it's a whole family experience. That's perfect, yeah, to invite people to think outside their box.

Sandy Deppisch: 18:01

Yeah, yeah, I love that. I love that it's the, like you said, your daughter's character, the individual with Down syndrome that is paving the way for the typically developing child and trying to help her, which is amazing, because oftentimes I think our kids do that just naturally anyway, but I don't know that the world sees that. So this is great that you're bringing awareness to it. But I love also, as a former kindergarten teacher, I love that you have questions in the back of the book, because this can open up so many discussions, and five year olds well, all ages, but that's my experience Five year olds are so open and compassionate and loving naturally and wanting to think about other people. They're still in that it's all about me stage, but this is a good time to springboard into focusing on other people. They're just accepting, though, which is awesome. I love this. I cannot wait. So I know the book is scheduled to come out sometime this month. Well, no, we're in September. In October, tell us a little bit about that.

Carlee Ragains: 19:02

Yes, so the kind of official date is October 21st. There may be a little bit of give in that, so towards the end of the month. October is also Down syndrome awareness month, so I really wanted to I've had it just kind of in my mind this whole time to launch it at that time, and so we're kind of in the final stages and yeah, we'll be putting it out specifically, but I would say, look for it towards the end of October.

Sandy Deppisch: 19:35

Okay. So I'm gonna jump a question to ask you where can we find your book when it's published, when it's available? Where will that be?

Carlee Ragains: 19:42

Yeah, it'll be available wherever you buy books Amazon, obviously, and then likely Barnes, noble Books, a Million and Walmartcom, probably the four kind of big ones, and I'm also hoping to get it into smaller bookstores and libraries. And so, yeah, amazon obviously is gonna be the big obvious one but yeah, that's excellent.

Sandy Deppisch: 20:13

So tell us, what has the book writing journey been like? I know the idea was planted like four years ago, but now it's coming about. So what has that been like for you?

Carlee Ragains: 20:25

Well, it's been long in that it just takes a long time. And now to be here it's just kind of it's still hard for me to like get my head around it. I'm gonna have a physical book in my hand really soon. It's been a process, you know. It's been a process for me to learn how to let an idea sit and simmer for a while, to not force it. I attempted to force it. I would sit and think, okay, how can I tell this story? And it just wasn't happening. And so actually it probably I guess it took about two years.

Carlee Ragains: 21:04

I have a note on my phone that goes back to, I think, 2021, july of 21. And I was in the shower one day and I just had like a download of like it just was like a song running through my head, you know, like a poem kind of thing. Like all of a sudden I saw kind of the details, like I had been formulating the idea of some interactions, but I was like, oh you know, had to scramble and hurry up and get a phone out and write it down quick. And I remember coming out to the kitchen where my husband and daughter were and I was like, can I really do something? I was like giddy and I read it and Ellen responded that's me and I was like, oh, like you know, there was just like this moment of, oh my gosh, like she got it, and if she saw herself then okay, I'm gonna go with this. And then I'd say the second part, or the kind of rest of it, came in, another kind of rush. But then really, the work of living with it, tweaking it, because it is a rhyming picture book, so it's like you know, it all has to be, has to make sense and it has to rhyme, you know, and so that takes some time and getting into the like, the structure of it.

Carlee Ragains: 22:28

And I actually submitted it to a publisher Actually the publisher I was telling you about and that was a no, and so that was hard, cause I was like I was sure you know, this is gonna be the one and I hadn't done it before. So it was a whole process. I didn't have an agent, but they were taking submissions anyway, and so then I just had to sit with it again and say, okay, you know, and honestly, where's this book supposed to go? What am I supposed to do? And I sat on it for about six months and just kind of toyed with different things. Do I submit it somewhere else?

Carlee Ragains: 23:07

You know, and probably about that time last year, sandy, I remember thinking I need to send it to Sandy because I know you write and you blog and podcast and you have a child. You know what Down syndrome meant. Not knowing, you were a teacher, and you were very encouraging, like, oh, you need to do something with this book. You know, I was toying with self publishing and then a publisher that I followed on Instagram just one day posted and said we're taking submissions and send us a DM and I thought, well, how hard can it be?

Carlee Ragains: 23:42

I've already done the work and I mean within a day I had an appointment for an interview and the doors just kind of flew open and it's been a really great process. It's a hybrid company United House Publishing it is the name of the company and so I've just been able to be a part of the whole process, which in traditional publishing wouldn't have been the case necessarily. But I've gotten to have a hand in all of that and work with an illustrator and be very hands on. So it's been a very fun process. It's taken, like you said, about a year. I think this happened the end of September last year, and so we're right there.

Sandy Deppisch: 24:29

So did you have to find your own illustrator, or do they have illustrators that you're able to?

Carlee Ragains: 24:34

Well, I kind of had the freedom to find someone, and again, I was not, I was. I didn't know where to start, what to do. I had some people that I kind of liked their style and but they had someone that they had worked with before previously on a book, and so they sent this out you know kind of the concept to her and maybe some others. She was the only one that responded, and so we started a dialogue and we met on Zoom, you know like this, and I just kind of had the opportunity to cast vision, because I knew what I wanted it to feel like, I knew the style, what I wanted it to look like. Then I had attempted actually to play with it, to do it myself, and I just didn't feel like I was in that place, like that wasn't my skill set for this particular thing, and I just thought, no, it needs to be, you know, it needs to be somebody that can actually capture what I see in my head, and so that was a really fun process to do that.

Sandy Deppisch: 25:42

Yeah, I can't wait to read the book. I mean just reading what I read when you sent it to me. It was so incredible to me. That's why I was a little surprised when you said the first publisher turned it down Like that.

Carlee Ragains: 25:54

I just Well, I think there's just so many, so many submissions. I think they had like 2000 submissions and only took a couple maybe, and so and I really just believe that I was supposed to be in this situation. I'm in and so, even though it felt like a blow I mean, authors talk a lot about that you know, being okay with the no and waiting and seeing what else and trying other things, and so that's been a good learning process for me too.

Carlee Ragains: 26:26

To not take that as a blow and to never pick it up but to say, okay then what is it, and kind of wait. Like I said, it's been long, but I think that part of it has been good for me. To just trust the process and trust that it's gonna get in the right hands.

Sandy Deppisch: 26:45

I'm also impressed with the fact that you let it sit for a while and you know you had the download in the shower, but you had the idea and it just wasn't coming. I feel like oftentimes for creatives maybe this isn't accurate, but feels to me like it is, maybe because this is how it works for me. When I get an idea, it comes and I'm like, boom, this is it, we're just gonna do it, and I think the sitting and letting it simmer perfects it and that's really admirable, that you're able to do that.

Carlee Ragains: 27:13

I need to learn from that. I don't know that. That's my natural way. Yeah, and I would say this last season that's last seven years or so, eight years or so has been one of slowing way down. You know, having been in a much faster pace for so many years, you know raising children, all of that but being in a place now where I've been able to kind of rest, focus on my own health mental health, emotional health, all those things and learn to live a little differently.

Carlee Ragains: 27:51

And so I think this has all been part of that, like not to panic and not to think it has to happen or it won't happen. And even you know, there's been other books that have come out since this idea. You know, since I had this idea and I've just had to say, okay, I'm gonna keep moving with it, because they all have their own perspectives. And I think you know, the more the merrier, in the sense of this kind of awareness thing and compassion. We need more of those anyway, Absolutely.

Sandy Deppisch: 28:27

Yeah, the whole idea, too, of the other books coming out. I can imagine there was a moment of ah, like my book's coming, wait, you know. But you're right, the more books like this on the market, the better it is to get the message across. So, yeah, what are your hopes and dreams for the future? Do you perceive that there are gonna be more books? Is it gonna be like a series type thing? And then also, what are your hopes and dreams for the future for Ellen and your family?

Carlee Ragains: 28:55

Well, since we're talking about the book, I guess yes, I do hope do have plans to write more books. Yeah, as this one developed, I could see just where this could go. I'm amazed at, as I look at, really, the community that we've been a part of now for the last few years. I mean, everywhere I turn, there is a family who has a child with a disability, and I'm just I am very aware of that Like, oh, okay, and so I really do feel like there are more stories like this, where one of the things that was important to me about this was that it would be somewhat in the first person. It's not actually fully in the first person, but you hear Eleanor's voice Like she is talking through the book of the book, and it was really important to me that the world kind of hear from that perspective, not from a third person telling about someone, but her voice saying like this is who?

Sandy Deppisch: 29:59

I am.

Carlee Ragains: 30:01

And so my hope is to be able to create, to develop a series that deals with other diagnoses, other disabilities, in a, again a non-threatening kind of way that invites people in and takes away some of the unknown. So that is, that's the plan. I've kind of started the second one, but I've had to kind of I've had to. I can get really distracted, you know, really easily, like oh, and thinking about the future, and so I'm really trying to learn to stay present too, and so I believe, when it's time to write that book, it'll be there, you know, the rest of it will come, and then I'll have a better idea of the process. So, yes, that's, that's my hope.

Carlee Ragains: 30:48

And then, as far as Ellen, I mean, I was totally going to say, you know, my hope for her, my dream for her, is to thrive. I just want her to thrive and to be as independent as possible. You know, for years she said I want to go to college, you know. So we want to try to figure out how to make that happen. And so I mean now we're actually, you know, beginning to look at that because she's a sophomore, but to create opportunities for her to be her truest self and to bring that to the world and be bold about it. So that's my hope for her and our family. I mean, we have some, we have some dreams as a family to be able to do some things to help support her and to do as a family.

Carlee Ragains: 31:37

Yeah we'll see. So, we have some things we want to do, but we'll see when that season is right.

Sandy Deppisch: 31:45

Yeah, exactly it's. It's. Everything is a season. That's the best way to go through life, I think sometimes is to realize this is just a season for when things are hard and also when things are amazing. You know, everything comes in season. Yeah, yeah, I think when, when you're meant for that next book, it will download for you in the shower, just like the first one.

Carlee Ragains: 32:07

I hope so. I will probably try to be a little more faithful in just sitting, sitting down to the paper over, but I have learned that sometimes it's just mulling it over, you know, letting it marinate, and then yeah, and then it comes when it's time. It doesn't mean you don't work at it once it's there, but a lot of times that's how it's been for me over the years with other things too, and so it kind of comes and then then you have to like tweak and work and edit and all those things.

Sandy Deppisch: 32:41

Yeah, wow, that's the best way for someone to get in touch with you, the best way, I appreciate you asking that.

Carlee Ragains: 32:50

I would say, if people want to know kind of the latest updates and whatever, if they would want to join my email list, that would be the you know the best way, probably the most involved option. And then I have an Instagram account Carly Regan's rights and they can also find the way to subscribe to my emails in that bio. So those are probably the biggest ways right now. I'm on Facebook too, but yeah, I would say Instagram, but my newsletter would probably be the first thing. You know where they'll get the first things.

Sandy Deppisch: 33:31

Will you be doing any book signings anywhere?

Carlee Ragains: 33:34

I hope so. Yes, I don't have a lot of that laid out yet because I'm still waiting on just the specific, you know, making sure we have all the things. But yes, I hope to do that. I hope to, you know, be able to connect with libraries I'm connected to a couple of them here locally and so you know whether it's to do a reading hour for the kids you know for to read the book, maybe even have Ellen there if that would work out, you know, and sign books and so, yeah, I certainly hope to do in person, and even even classrooms, schools, so if there are teachers that hear this and say, yeah, I want you to come to my classroom, or you know, I would look at doing that virtually as well If people wanted to do that. So I think there's a lot of options nowadays to be able to do that, and so I'm really in person is really you know where my heart would be to really engage with people if possible.

Sandy Deppisch: 34:36

Yeah, and I'm thinking even like librarians in elementary schools. If they would reach out, you know that would be an opportunity for you to come, and then you could spend a few hours as a different classes come in and you have a scheduled time and you could read to them the book. And if Ellen could be there, that would be incredible. Wow, this is so exciting. I cannot wait for your book to come out. I know it's going to be amazing and I'm so proud of you for sticking through this process. It's been a long one, but you've done it. And now there's life at the end of the tunnel Amazing.

Carlee Ragains: 35:08

Thank you, sandy. Yeah, I'm very excited. It's just kind of that last push. Now you know that last okay is really happening, so yeah very excited. I appreciate you reaching out to and letting me just talk about it. It's really it's a great thing to be able to do, to to recall all those things, right, right.

Sandy Deppisch: 35:30

Yeah, I appreciate you and thank you so much for being here and sharing this story, and when you write your next one you'll have to come back on and I would love that. Yeah, and if I can put a little plug in there, I think I would love for you to write a book about Eleanor from Ellen's perspective Eleanor with someone who's a non-speaker and how they how to teach other kids to treat people who are non-speakers, because I think our perception is sometimes that there's not intelligence, when really oftentimes there is intelligence, it's just a, you know, brain, body disconnect.

Carlee Ragains: 36:06

Anyway, that's my little plug. Absolutely One of your books We'll talk.

Sandy Deppisch: 36:10

Thanks so much for being here. Thank you Thanks for listening to the Embrace the Blessing podcast. Visit embracetheblessingcom slash podcast for show notes and links to any resources mentioned. If this has been beneficial to you, please share it with a friend or post it on your social media pages. Join me next Wednesday for more inspiring stories from people just like you.