From Our Family to Yours This Christmas

Dear Family and Friends,

Holiday Greetings from The Cantorna Clan! Wow, what a year it has been! 2017 has flown by for us and it is hard to believe it is already coming to a close.

AMBER’s book, Refocusing My Family, released on October 1^st and so far, has been very well received! She’s spoken 15 times and traveled almost 10,000 miles in the last 8 weeks to share her story with people all over the country and spread a message of hope and love to LGBTQ people and their families. She’s spoken at universities, churches, and bookstores meeting many amazing people from all walks of life in the process. She’s taking a break for the holiday season to physically and emotionally recharge, but looks forward to resuming her travel after the new year, starting with Brooklyn, NY and Nashville, TN. You can learn more about where she will be speaking in 2018 at AmberCantorna.com/events. Considering the amount of travel we’ve undertaken, we are pleased with how well Amber’s health has held up.  She continues to undergo prolotherapy  treatments every 4-6 weeks but has just been presented with a new treatment option that she is considering for 2018. While her pain continues to still be a daily challenge, we’ve learned a lot about how to manage it better than we previously did and for that, we are very grateful.

LITTLE ANNE gave us quite the scare this year though when she came down very sick in late September. She ran a high fever, refusing to eat for days. Meanwhile, her white blood cell count doubled in a week, yet every test we ran came back negative. With two very worried mommies, she was in and out of a specialty hospital for 10 days until we finally decided to bring her home, though we were still unsure of what was wrong or if she was going to pull through. We were so very grateful when she finally turned the corner and the administered medicine caused her mystery illness to dissipate. She has regained full strength and spunk, though because of the lack of diagnosis, her mommies continue to watch her closely! We’re so thankful that she pulled through and that we have our baby back. She adds so much life to our family and our world wouldn’t be the same without her!

CLARA continues to work for the Colorado Army National Guard and is coming up on her 25-year mark. Her contract is currently up for renewal and we are praying for just one more year so she can reach her goal of retirement. Many people have asked what is next for us once she leaves the Army and in all honesty, we are still unsure. We have several options on the table that we are considering, but are keeping our hearts open to see where God leads us. Work has been very stressful for Clara this year running a shop with such a small staff and she looks forward to the day she can slow down a bit and not carry so much responsibility. However, she has been very supportive of Amber’s book tour and has traveled with her to as many events as possible, which has created many fun memories and special moments for us both to share.

HALF PINT has had a great year traveling as a service dog with Mommy. She flew on an airplane for the very first time and did just fabulous! She loved sitting on mommy’s lap and looking out the window and wasn’t scared a bit. She’s become quite the experienced travel dog, has brought lots of smiles everywhere she’s gone, and has even stolen the show a time or two.J She continues to love and support Mommy on this journey and does so with pride.

We are thankful for all those we have met, the places we’ve seen, and the experiences we’ve had this year. Even in the challenging moments, we’ve had much to be grateful for, including the blessing of each of you in our lives. We hold you dear to our hearts and are thankful for your support and love which lend us strength. We pray peace, comfort, and a deep inner joy for each of you this holiday season and hope you drop us a note to tell us how you’re doing when you have the chance!

Much love to each of you this holiday season,

The Cantorna Clan
Amber, Clara, Half Pint, and Little Anne