“WATCH IT, WATCH IT!”
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER FOR AUTISTIC INTERPRETATIONS®
Welcome! I am Val. My adult daughter Jess and I live together and have a loving and fun relationship. We share our daily adventures, travels, struggles, and the strong loving village that surrounds us.
“It takes a village”. For those of you who have followed us for a while, I’m sure you’ll agree we are blessed with a strong loving “village”. Looking back at September, let’s put the spotlight on some of our favorite #goodones.
HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED IN SEPTEMBER
Aunt Sue
We start on a difficult note. In September we said goodbye to “Aunt Sue”. You wouldn’t have seen Aunt Sue in our bideos, but you would have felt her presence. When Jess talked about ‘going to work’ it meant going to Aunt Sue’s to be her nurse, and it meant the world to Jess. Twelve years. That’s how long Aunt Sue and her daughter have been dedicated to calling Jess every single day.
As you would expect, Jessica took the news of Aunt Sue’s passing hard. Jessica has her own way of grieving and I expect her grief will continue for a long time. While we obviously keep some parts of our lives private, we did share this video of a raw and grieving Jess. Amazingly, Jess showed the most profound wisdom in her message for Aunt Sue at the service: “I was your nurse for a very long time. I miss you. Heaven is a wonderful place. I’ll see you when I get there”.
#BadDaddy
BadDaddy, AKA my ex-husband and the father of our children, Jessica, Madison, and Hannah. No, he’s not remarried. No, we’re not getting back together. Yes, we have worked hard on our friendship and will even travel together.
And he’s not actually a ‘bad daddy’. We settled on that name because I didn’t want to constantly refer to him as my ‘ex’ and he did not appreciate my joking references to him as ‘baby daddy’. I thought that #BadDaddy was the perfect way to capture his special relationship with our kids. As I explain in this Q&A, while ‘Good One, Bad One‘ started with Abby, Jessica and her dad have really taken it to new levels!
BadDaddy has recently retired and so he’s been able to spend some more time with us and that includes taking the oodles of poodles for walks. Before Covid, Jessica spent every other weekend with him. We’re working our way back to that with some Daddy-Daughter dinner dates. Thanks to a generous goodone, the four of us (BadDaddy, Hannah, Jess, and I) enjoyed a “What’s the Deal” meal at a family favorite restaurant, Red Lobster.
Madison
Our middle child is a son, Madison. Madison is married to Sarah and they live in Charleston. You won’t see them much in our posts because they prefer the quiet life and I respect that. If you’re interested in an oldie-but-goodie, check out this video of Madison giving Jess a ‘driving lesson’.
As many of you know, we’ve been planning a family trip to Disney World in October, and we’re very happy that Madison and Sarah will be there also.
Hannah
Hannah is the youngest of our three kids. As you all have seen, she is a special soul. This summer Hannah moved back home and is settling into the basement suite with her furbaby, Daryl. You’ll hear Jess talking about moving and as I explain in this QA, “Are we Moving?“, we’d like to move eventually, but we have no immediate plans!
In September, Hannah and Jess, in addition to grocery shopping, spent some quality time in the kitchen: pumpkin bread, chocolate cake, and sausage balls. Reminding us once again that progress never stops, Jessica got quite a kick out of rolling the sausage balls.
If you are interested in learning more about Hannah, check out her Q&A from earlier this year, or give her a follow on her Instagram, HannahBroooks.
Marlow
Marlow is Hannah’s best friend, and also Jessica’s paid caregiver. Marlow comes 3-4 days a week. Jessica and Marlow’s September adventures included baking chocolate chip cookies and a late September water day. In August, Marlow joined the poodle parent tribe with Benny.
Nonnie and Granddad
Nonnie and Granddad are my parents. We have a very close relationship, and I can tell you they are as kind and loving as you would imagine. From “cooking with Nonnie” to “shopping with Granddad” to a McD’s delivery to visiting on the porch, they are the true #goodones! Jessica has recently resumed her overnight visits with them and that’s as important for Jess as it is for me.
And all of you!
Whether you are a new follower or a longtime #goodone or a Crispy, we appreciate you! Our Tuesday Crispy ‘meetings’ and our Thank You Thursday ‘Alives’ are a huge support to us. Jessica enjoys very much connecting, and so do Hannah and I! We enjoy sharing our life with you and also using it as a way to encourage and educate.
In September we shared our usual ups and downs and musical features, along with Q&A videos about how we ended up where we are today: “What Next When Vocation Options Failed“, “Did Jess Attend an Adult Day Program“, and “Was Jess Kicked off the Bus?“.
If you have any topics you are interested to hear more about, please let me know!
HERE’S THE PLAN
October
The first family vacation with all three kids in a really long time
A new challenge: “…tude”
“What’s The Deal?”
November
30-day challenge wrap-up
Cooking with Nonnie, cookbook edition!
House projects
December
Vlogmas!
More adventures
FAQ
DO WE HAVE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL?
WHAT DOES JESSICA SEE?
HAS JESS ALWAYS TALKED?
WHY DID WE START CLUB CRISPY?
FOR YOUR CALENDAR
- OCT 01 – National Hair Day
- OCT 04 – World Animal Welfare Day
- OCT 05 – World Teachers’ Day
- OCT 10 – World Mental Health Day
- OCT 11 – Thanksgiving (Canada)
- OCT 14 – National Dessert Day
- OCT 17 – National Pasta Day
- OCT 21 – National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day
- OCT 25 – International Artist Day
- OCT 31 – Halloween
Thanks from the bottom of our hearts for following along in our journey! We enjoy sharing our joyful life with you all, and love knowing all of the various ways our story and videos help others.
If you like what we are doing at Autistic Interpretations and would like to help us continue to make videos, please check out https://autisticinterpretations.com/join-club-crispy/.
You guys are all #goodones 😊 I enjoy your bideos so much. Thanks for sharing your bessie with us ♥️♥️ We do need it 🥰
❤️
This is a wonderful newsletter!
Thank you!
I am a “newbie” from eastern Kentucky and I fell in love with your family watching your first video. I have binge watched over the last week and feel as if I’m part of the family! No doubt about it, Jessica is precious. I love the way your family is so very close to each other and the friendship that you and “Bad Daddy” have with one another. I’ve heard couples say they get along and actually have a friendship and trust with one another after divorcing that they didn’t have while married. I think it’s wonderful, precious and amazing that you can sit at the table as a loving family and have dinner when the majority of most married couples can’t do that!
You, Jessica and Hannah are absolutely beautiful women not only physically but you each have a beautiful heart and your personalities simply shine. GOD gave Jessica to the perfect family and oh how he blessed each of you with Jessica. I do wholeheartedly believe that GOD blesses his precious, special children to his most caring and loving families. I’m sure you have had your fair share and then some struggles and I know it hasn’t always been easy but with GODS help you and “Bad Daddy” together have raised an amazing, loving family. Your love and patience with each other truly shines on each and every video that you share with us. We none are perfect and we sure don’t get an instruction manual with our babies, although that would be nice and very helpful!! LOL
Val, you are simply one of the best mother’s out there, your love, patience and the way you teach Jessica how to live and do every day things.that we all take for granted. It’s such a blessing how you all teach Jessica how to cope with her emotions. It’s so very sad that she has to worry and get nervous and upset over the difficulties of the terrible things
going on in this world on a daily basis, that we none can change or do anything about.
It’s so hard and there are so many things that we can’t and don’t understand.
GOD could not have given Jessica to a better family nor could he have not given your family a more precious, special blessing as Jessica.
I do apologize for the lengthy message but I just can’t say enough about your YouTube channel, I have truly fallen in love with you all!
Thank you so much!
Such a great update. I follow you and enjoy your prospective.
Loveyou guys! im also a retired RN working in a candy store. i find myself using some of Jesses adorable manerisms.
❤️😊
Hi Val! This is your Minnesota Crispy, Linda. I absolutely love watching your videos, seeing your Instagram posts, and reading your newsletter. Jess is such a sweetie. Thanks for opening up your home and sharing your family with us!
Thank you!
Love this newsletter! You and your family are awesome!!! I love watching your vlogs! I am a recreation therapist and work with adults and seniors and I love your empathy !!! ❤️
Thank you!