Where I live, we have something called the Commission for Children with Special Healthcare Needs (or CCSHCN, which doesn't exactly roll off the tongue). It's a place where kids with those special needs can see all the necessary specialists in one day, rather than having to book however many appointments across the span of several months.

As a kid with a unilateral cleft and palate, I went to the Commission annually to see my craniofacial and rhinoplasty surgeons, orthodontist, speech…

I've always been so proud to be Osage. I'm so thankful that I have a father that instilled that identity in me from a young age, as well as a non-Indigenous mother who has always reinforced it. But being Indigenous comes with a heavy load. All too often, it feels that we're carrying on our ancestors' Sisyphean task of struggling to become more visible and have our issues heard by non-Indigenous communities.

So when I heard years ago that this…

Wow. Okay. I've been putting off posting this so I could say it after the tsumani has subsided, but it's still going. So let's do this now:

I just wanted to send a MASSIVE thank you to every one of you that has taken the time to read what I wrote. The love that y'all have shown both me and my words on here and on Twitter has been so overwhelming in the best way. If I made you see…