Instagram story viewer> @sk00kumskell> Posts

Courtney V.H.

@sk00kumskell

756

followers

13218

following

Mom to 3 brilliant humans. Mimi to🧚‍♂️&🧚🏻‍♀️. Disabled Artist, Writer, Dreamer, Survivor. Homeschool Educator. #HousingForAll #ProtectTransKids

POSTS STORIES REELS

Happy 29th Heavenly Birthday, My Love. This is my first ever reel (video), and I have no doubt you would be laughing at how rough around the edges it is. 😆 But as we said during your welding apprenticeship? The road to excellence is never pretty in the beginning. (And your brother would *never* let me live down using AI to make a tribute video for you!! 🥰 - he would also be correct!!). We love and miss you more than I believe you would ever have imagined. I am grateful for how your voice still breaks through the chaos, and so very charmed for having had the opportunity to love you. Thank you for being such an amazing Man. I Love You... WE love you ("more than 🧻"!!). Until we meet again. 🫶🏻💜🤟🏻 (P.S. Bryn & I were *right* about the perils of November 2024. You owe me. So bad. 🥰) by @sk00kumskell

My friends, I am reaching out once again with a heavy heart. My medication is essential for my health and breathing, but I still have $90 remaining out of the $100 needed to purchase it.

Every day without treatment becomes more difficult, and I am afraid of what may happen if I cannot get my medicine in time. I never like asking for help, but today I truly have no other choice.

If you are able to support me, even with a small amount, it would bring me one step closer to getting the treatment I urgently need. And if you cannot donate, please share my message so it may reach someone who can.

Your kindness, prayers, and support mean more than words can express. May God bless you all and reward you for every act of compassion. ❤️🙏 by @sk00kumskell

My dear friends,

I never imagined I would have to write these words, but today I am reaching out with a heavy heart. My asthma medication is running out, and without it, even breathing becomes a struggle.

Every day I worry about what will happen when I no longer have the medicine that helps me breathe. The feeling of not being able to catch your breath is frightening, and right now I am unable to afford the treatment I desperately need.

I am humbly asking for your help. Any contribution, no matter how small, can bring me closer to getting my medication and give me some relief from this constant fear and anxiety. If you cannot donate, please consider sharing this message with others. A simple share could reach someone who is able to help.

Please do not leave me alone during this difficult time. Your kindness, support, and prayers mean more to me than words can express.

May God bless every helping hand and reward your generosity abundantly. 🤲❤️ by @sk00kumskell

#foryou #fypシ #explore by @sk00kumskell

So many examples of insightful warriors before my eyes this week. Thank you to all who refuse to stop moving forward.

#TransAwarenessWeek

Creator: @calcalamia

Poem: Pronoun Antacedent Disagreement
Book: San Franshitshow
Author: Cal Calamia

*If I have violated any author/creator requests or preferences in sharing this (raw & awe-inspiring) work, please, PLEASE reach out and I will immediately remove.

#ProtectTransYouth
#TransLivesMatter
#TransPeopleAreLoved by @sk00kumskell

I know that people around me are all fighting their own battles.

I realize that people tuck those battles within their inside jacket pocket, to both keep them "close to the vest" and enable their smile to shine a bit brighter or their steps to be slightly lighter. But those battles have their own weight. The longer they stay in that pocket? And the more battles that are folded nicely and stuffed inside with the others? The more the weight causes smiles to fade & each step to become heavier.

Nothing has motivated me more to "right my ship" than being a mother. I'm no different than anyone else, slaying monsters and regailing inspirational stories to my (now nearly all adult) children, trying to both clear the path for them & enable them to fight their own battles, too. There's very little (if anything), I wouldn't do for my kids, and losing my oldest, first born son last month has ricochet results I know will be ever-present in my heart & soul until I draw my last breath.

Having to grieve yet another loss in my family (the most alienating, profound, unspeakable loss I've experienced in all of my 45 years) while racking up my own stack of multi-faceted, "pocketed" battles is a tight rope with which I'm both used to yet so exhausted from traversing.

In the midst of saying goodbye to the first Love of my Life, given just 26 short years to brighten the lives of those around him, family members and those once a part of "my tribe" have resumed their eloquent written "hate" messages to me, which inadvertently ends up in the same pocket with all the other battles. My "pocket" is becoming heavy as all hell.

I'll never understand the desire to be needlessly hateful or mean, and hope my kids opt to always "do better". These battles are heavy enough without family assuring me we "don't deserve to be here". Thank you to @katieabey for such beautiful artwork. It so well illustrates my tenacity to keep going while I question my strength to continue coming up for air.

Sometimes, when the weight of the battles is so strong, all we can
do is crawl inside a bubble of
hope and pray. 💜

Being mean & hateful is the utmost waste of energy... & a helluva spirit killer. 😔 by @sk00kumskell

Repost: @rainbowprideyouthalliance

The following is a statement from Dr Jonathan Higgins, RPYA's Director of Media and Advocacy:

It is with heavy hearts that we, the Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance, express our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and community of Nex Benedict, a transgender, Indigenous youth who tragically lost their life at the tender age of sixteen in Oklahoma. Nex was a vibrant soul, with passions for reading, drawing, playing Minecraft, and cherishing moments with their beloved cat, Zeus.

Nex's untimely death is a heartbreaking reminder of the urgent need for us to come together as a society and prioritize the safety and well-being of LGBTQ2S+ youth. All young people, regardless of their gender identity, deserve a nurturing and supportive learning environment, free from discrimination, harassment, and violence.

Oklahoma, KY - among other states, maintains laws that mandate public school students to use restrooms aligning with the gender assigned to them at birth. These discriminatory policies not only disregard the rights of transgender and nonbinary individuals but also expose them to severe risks, specifically higher risk for both mental and physical violence Nex’s family has shared that they endured months of bullying before the tragic incident in the girl's restroom on February 7th.

The current climate of escalating hate, both online and offline, coupled with the proliferation of laws targeting transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming individuals, poses a grave threat to the well-being of our youth. These circumstances create an environment where young lives are at risk, and we cannot stand idly by.

We, the Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance, reaffirm our commitment to fighting for the rights of all young people to live authentically, pursue their passions, and thrive

We call on lawmakers, educators, and communities to enact and uphold policies that promote inclusivity, respect, and understanding. Together, we can create a world where no young person has to face the tragedy that befell Nex Benedict.

Rest in power, Nex. Your spirit will continue to inspire us in our ongoing fight for justice, equality, and acceptance. by @sk00kumskell

Repost: @terricole

If someone threatens you for being unavailable, having to do *normal* daily things, like getting sleep, doing homework, having a work schedule or doing things independently from them?

This is *abuse*.

Someone who "loves you" will NOT play on your emotions in this way, they will listen to what obligations you have, what feelings you express, and RESPECT your choices.

Do not put up with toxic, manipulative behavior.

Unhealed people HURT people.

#emotionalabuse
#verbalabuse
#toxicbehavior by @sk00kumskell

Repost: @mystical.asf

I'm losing patience for "half assed" energy. Show up, or ship out. Reciprocation is my only "love language" these days. 💜 by @sk00kumskell

Repost @butterfliesandpebbles

Closing out the month with a grateful heart and a hopeful mind. That fortune continues to bless my clan with the gifts that come naturally, the needs filled through effort and grace, and that each of us give much more than we may want. May October bring with it new dreams, acquired goals, and deeply deserved rest and peace of mind.

As I write this, I can hear ample rain drops on unfallen, wide leaves... and the goosebumps on my skin have me smiling over sweater weather. Here's hoping cozy isn't just warmth on my skin, this season, but acceptance deep down where my soul needs reprieve and solitude.

May those I love feel seen, forge ahead, and continue to create the home they need as refuge from a world unrelenting in its lessons and cold shoulder.

And may I find strength to bear the burdens for us all. 💜 by @sk00kumskell

Any transgender beauty or gent is safe with me.
🏳️‍⚧️🩷🤍🩵🏳️‍⚧️

Repost: @transrights.bristol by @sk00kumskell

Repost/Written By:
@BlossomingAsBeth

(Thank you, Elizabeth - as I sought out inspiration for RA or decatastrophizing, your poem emerged and is more applicable than you might ever know. Please let me know if you don't approve of it's use.)

I am not a transgender woman. I am just the tough-as-nails (despite being sensitive as ALL hell in ways that fail me much more frequently than they serve me (and those I love)), fiercely loyal Mama Bear who opts to die on the hill suggesting Lgbtq2sia+ youth and adults deserve all the same rights and protections afforded to each country's non Lgbtq2sia+ citizens.

I can only offer my personal support to those crucial to me within my sphere of influence using the lens formed from both my own experiences and traumas. Trauma is an incredible bitch. Seriosuly. No more. No less. It exists, in many ways, to *absolutely* fuck up one's equilibrium, and many of us leave this earth unable to completely restore ours.

For me, few things have restored peace (each, tiny pinch at a time) in the way choosing to be vulnerable through fear has.

Someone in my world, for whom my love has developed profoundly and unwaveringly, has been struggling between the life place she's in "now", and the one she envisions in her soul. Quite honestly, it's bullshit on *so* many levels, most notably because the primary limitations are not even hers. As a transgender woman, they are the ugly and overtly unspoken gifts so dutifully doled out to society's outliers- their own scarlet letters for simply being their true selves.

I can identify with both the pain and fear with which she contends via my own trauma history. Both the rejection from my family of origin and my cPTSD-based fear foster this insight. And yet? The breadth of the hate I faced is a pittance to what she faces. Though my fear and hypervigilance strikes my core, at times? Only recently has the depth of her fear become clear to me, and I've no doubt the voice-freezing, breathless moments I've had are no great measure of enlightenment to how she feels, inside, at times.

(Caption continues in comments, my apologies for the length. Some things are too important for limitation constraints) by @sk00kumskell