As promised, in this episode we discuss our 25th wedding anniversary, but not in a typical format. Since Colleen just got a new workspace, we decided to discuss what we have learned over the years from all of our adventures in IKEA. And we have moved a lot. We hope you enjoy this lighter episode with perspectives of the full range of our life from …

In this episode we discuss the October surprise that nobody was expecting, Colleen's sudden urge to celebrate Halloween, which is odd to observe from the Southern Hemisphere. We talk about how hard it is to get to a place of celebration in light of grief and how different it is to suddenly have the capacity.…

In this episode we discuss how awkward October is, between Rett Syndrome awareness in our new world where nobody knows about it, the anniversary of the diagnosis and Claire's birthday. Jared and Colleen share their separate strategies for dealing with the birthday and when to tell new people about Claire.…

October is Rett Syndrome awareness month so we dedicated this episode to things to be aware of, in regards to Rett syndrome, particularly what you CAN do to make it better.By Colleen and Jared English

First and foremost, we talk about the 9th World Rett Syndrome Congress. Very exciting! Sept. 14 is R U OK day in Australia, an effort lead by a suicide prevention group. We talk about why this is so important and how having a child with special needs doesn't exempt you from all the normal stuff in life.…

In this episode we talk about how each of us uses social media differently and how complicated our relationships with it are. We also give a quick update/ follow up on Chloe's school.By Colleen and Jared English

Special guest Chloe wanted to come on and talk about how stressful school has been and how this is impacted by being an immigrant with a dead sister but nobody notices that. We also talk about how a love for accordions is getting her through and why Colleen irrationally went to great lengths to purchase a 90 year old German accordion.…

After an eventful trip back to California, we are settled back into winter to talk about how the trip home was in reality after we discussed what we expected in the previous episode. Spoiler, we had a great trip. We also talk about how happy we are to be sad.By Colleen and Jared English

I know we said we were taking a break but surprise! We decided that we wanted to share something that was a little more raw while we are in the space to talk about it. In this episode we talk about some of the reasons that made the last place we lived with Claire really hard. In our typical lighthearted way, we discuss some very heavy topics closel…

In a special Friday evening episode, we discuss Chloe not needing us, how crazy winter in Australia is and the complicated feelings around social expectations of grieving parents. This will be our last episode until August. We are looking forward to a break and coming back with some fresh stories.By Colleen and Jared English

In this episode we talk about self care, how ridiculous a lot of the messaging around it is and what we have found to be helpful. We also give a little update on what we have learned about the Australian high(er) school situation and talk about how awesome ASCEND, the upcoming conference hosted by the International Rett Syndrome Foundation.…

We talk about how music has played a role in many of our more challenging times and how weird it is to be in a fairly normal little groove.By Colleen and Jared English

In this episode we discuss learning a whole new school system, which moves graduation up by two years and how Colleen can't cry so she's incredibly overwhelmed by dress shopping, which should be a fairly simple and straight forward process. We also talk about learning how to podcast and not delete 8 minutes of a show. So much to learn, thank you fo…

We've had a lot of coffee over the years. Maybe we had too much before we recorded this. Apologies that the microphones aren't more balanced and the conversation wondered, we are learning as we go.By Colleen and Jared English

In this episode we discuss our typical daughter Chloe, yet in reality she is anything but typical. She is excellent and has shown us parts of life we would have missed without her. This discussion ended up being a bit more about the wild years when we decided to grow the family and chaos that we managed to survive with two young girls. We also touc…

A lighthearted discussion about Colleen's disdain for contrived Hallmark holidays like Mother's Day and now the addition of Bereaved Mother's Day.By Colleen and Jared English

In this episode we discuss a recent trip Tasmania along with the difference between traveling around Australia, Europe and the US. We also discuss how travel changes in light of our previous experience, with Claire and some of the things we learned getting to go places with her.By Colleen and Jared English

Take two! Colleen here. You may have listened to one of the few episodes on the podcast I had recorded, Rare and Unfiltered. I've decided to take this project in a different direction, one that I hope you enjoy. This is a new introduction that included my fabulous partner in crime, Jared. In this episode we talk about the death of our daughter and …

Chloe joins me as the first guest to the podcast in this episode. We talk about handling awkward questions and grief as a surviving sibling. She is wise beyond her years and it is an honor to share this episode.By Colleen English

This episode addresses my thoughts on how mothers to complex kids are often expected to be Martyrs, how we worked around it and some ideas for realistic self care. If you are interested in my favorite self care tip of breathing, this article is a great place to start. https://www.seasons.com/breathing-coach-tips-for-caregiver-stress/2675053/…

First episode! The production isn't pretty and I am still finding my voice, but this is a start. In this episode I talk about how I wish I had a more complete understanding of grief, including how beautiful life can be. I would love to hear your feedback, I am on Instagram @rareandunfilteredBy Colleen English

Hello and welcome! This episode is just a quick bit of background on why I have decided to start the podcast. Over the last two and a half years I have noticed that there aren't a lot of people in the grief space talking about loosing a child that was multiply disabled. In my case, I am the mom to Claire, who lived with Rett Syndrome for 15 years. …