Welcome Home - A Podcast for Veterans, About Veterans, By Veterans
Welcome Home is a Willing Warriors and the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run project. The program highlights activities at the Warrior Retreat and issues impacting all Veterans. For questions or feedback, please email us at podcast@willingwarriors.org.
Welcome Home - A Podcast for Veterans, About Veterans, By Veterans
Military Kids Matter: The Blog Giving Voice to Children of Wounded Warriors
What happens when the children of wounded warriors grow up and decide to create the support system they wish they'd had? Meet Sinaiyah (16) and Azara (14) Emami, two remarkable sisters who are changing the landscape for military children navigating the complexities of life with a wounded parent.
When the Emami sisters first visited the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run in 2018, they were just children seeking respite while their father recovered at Walter Reed. Today, they've returned as visionaries behind "We Signed Up Too," an innovative online community specifically designed for children of wounded, ill, and injured veterans. Their mission emerged from a stark realization: while support systems exist for veterans and caregivers, the children in these families often fall through the cracks, left to navigate complex emotions and responsibilities without dedicated resources.
The sisters speak with striking wisdom about the unique challenges these children face - from profound loneliness and premature responsibility to the complex dynamics of family communication around a parent's condition. "These kids are dealing with things children normally don't deal with," Sinaiyah explains, highlighting how military children often grow up faster, shouldering emotional burdens beyond their years. Their platform addresses these needs through age-appropriate content (blog articles for older kids, craft videos for younger ones), comprehensive resources, and, most importantly, connections with peers who truly understand.
What makes their approach particularly powerful is their authenticity - they're not speaking as outside experts but as fellow travelers on this journey. "Just because we started this doesn't mean we're out of the hardship," Sinaiyah shares. "We're walking through it daily." This lived experience informs every aspect of their work, from the community they're building to their plans for virtual meetups and in-person events. Visit wesigneduptoo.com to explore this groundbreaking resource and help spread the word about this vital community where children of wounded warriors can find understanding, support, and the reassurance that they are never alone. Follow them on Instagram.
Good morning. I'm your host, Larry Zilliox, Director of Culinary Services, here at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run, and this week our guests are the E mami Sisters. They are two young women who started a blog called we Signed Up Too. They are military children and, in keeping with our theme this month of the Military Children's Month, we wanted to have them as guests to tell us about the blog and everything that they're hoping to accomplish and all this. I looked at the blog. I read just about everything on it and it's got some great little videos. So we're going to get into that in a minute, but I just wanted you to take turns and introduce yourself, and then we'll talk a little bit about the fact that you guys have been guests here way back when you were much shorter, back in 2018. We'll just go through all of that. So welcome to the podcast.
Azara Emami:Thank you, my name is.
Sinaiyah Emami:Azara Emami and I'm Sanaya. Thank you so much for having us.
Larry Zilliox:So tell us a little bit about your memory of the time that you guys came and stayed here with us back in 2018.
Sinaiyah Emami:Well, I think our favorite part was definitely the family time. Coming here, it's different than being at home, because you really are able to do things that you can't normally do on a normal day-to-day basis. Personally, my favorite part was the books you guys had. Oh my gosh. Actually, we're big readers at our house, and so I just loved spending time looking at those. I actually found Nancy Drew books there, and you guys let us take home some books, and that started my obsession, so now I have the whole collection actually wow from just being there wow, great, and you, you're.
Larry Zilliox:What did you think about coming here to the retreat?
Azara Emami:I was really excited because I was like, oh, there's a new place to explore. And I was all about exploring when I was younger, so I would go outside and be like, oh I, I see an animal. You know, I was my own little explorer and I got to go into my own little world and just we were able to relax and have fun and bond together.
Larry Zilliox:And so you guys came because your dad was part of the soldier recovery unit at Walter Reed environment and gave you a chance to just sort of set that aside and say, hey, here's some time for us as a family. I was looking back through the pictures. You guys were so much younger. Now, how old are you? I'm 14. 14 and you're? I'm 16. 16. Wow, so you're driving.
Sinaiyah Emami:Yes, well, I'm learning.
Larry Zilliox:I like to drive, all right. So what kind of car is your dad going to get you?
Sinaiyah Emami:Well, he's going to give me his Jeep.
Larry Zilliox:Okay, so I'm happy about that.
Larry Zilliox:Nice, very good, and you'll be able to drive your sister around. She's excited about that for sure. That's awesome. Well, listen, listen. It's so good to have you guys back here talk about your new blog that we signed up to. I think it's an amazing resource, because there really isn't anything out there for military children of wounded warriors. There's resources for military children, but you know, we sort of adopt the same thing that the Dole Foundation does and look upon children as the hidden heroes. Step up and maybe provide some care or step up and just accept that your routine and your life that you were used to is all jumbled up around your parents' illness, and so it's quite a testament to you guys that you've found your way through that, and now you're ready to launch this blog and help other children of wounded warriors, and I just think that's so great. So where did the idea come from?
Sinaiyah Emami:Well, we have been. I mean, it was really interesting, because when you're a military kid, it's you have you go through what a military kid feels, through you have moves, you have you go through what a military kid feels, or you have moves, you have your parents going on tdy's, but especially when your parent was wounded and when they retire and you're thrown into a whole, it's like you're being thrown into a whole different population. So azar and I kind of realized that the population of children of wounded, ill and injured veterans are overlooked a lot, because you have a lot of resources for the veteran, you have resources for the spouse, the caregiver, but there's not a lot put into these children that live with these veterans and these family members. And so we wanted to make something that would serve two purposes to bring awareness to their situation while also bringing community to them, because you can feel very lonely, you don't know it, can feel like there's no one out there that knows what you're going through. So that's what we wanted to do with. We Signed Up Too.
Azara Emami:Yeah, we wanted to sort of make a community for them so that even if they don't have friends close by them, if they just made a big hard move, they can still have an online community and they can make friends and they can read about very thought provoking things, they can make crafts just an online community.
Larry Zilliox:Sure, and where do you see the blog going? What's the focus?
Azara Emami:The end goal is to sort of make time for events so even if people don't live in the same areas, just we can set up events in specific areas so these kids can actually meet in person and they can actually make long lasting friendships.
Sinaiyah Emami:And connections right To be able to really like with our blog if they're able to meet online to be able to one day hopefully see wait, I didn't know that this person lived 20 minutes from me and really you're just to show these kids are not alone. This population is very small and we want to. We want these kids to know there are others out there.
Larry Zilliox:Well, you're dead on in the fact that you know there's resources for the family when you're talking about an active duty soldier, but once the separation happens, there's resources for veterans through the VA or state resources or county resources and the caregiver, but nothing for children. And you're just sort of left on your own to try and figure out that next chapter. And I think that what you're doing is just amazing, because you're laying the groundwork to have a sort of template to say, hey, when your mom or dad is separated and goes before the medical board and gets medical retirement, you know, this is what your next chapter in life is going to look like, and we're here as a community to help, and you've got some videos up. So what's the? What are you looking for going forward? Is it going to be more content that is written, or more content that's visual, like the videos, or a combination of both?
Azara Emami:Well, so there is actually a separation in those two. The first part, which is the blog, that's my sister's area and she's posting articles for kids more like 11 and up, while I will be posting videos every other week with crafts, and this is for kids like 10 and under, and so there is going to be a separation. So when these younger kids have some siblings, they can go and read the blog while their their younger siblings are watching the videos. So we are. I don't think that we might collaborate later on.
Sinaiyah Emami:Yeah, and we wanted it to be so that we can cater to every age. So no matter what age you are, there is a place for you. Now, especially with the articles, we want to focus on issues that face military kids, while also bringing awareness to different organizations that are already existing. So we have one of my favorite places on the blog is actually a resource page where we have compiled all different types of resources, like Bull Run, where they have been able to serve these families, so when kids come onto our website, they can find these resources, like so that they're right there to maybe share with their family members and that they can take part in these.
Larry Zilliox:So who pays for this dad?
Sinaiyah Emami:We actually are. We have been trying to have fundraisers so our family we held a fundraiser in August of last year but it definitely is not. There are some financial. It was very hard to like kind of go about it, but we've been able to get half fundraisers to hold like to be able to host this.
Larry Zilliox:And I understand. The problem is that you guys are not like a nonprofit entity, so it's hard to make a donate button up in the corner. I really do want you to find a way to finance it, because it's the only way you're going to grow and we can help promote that for sure, because every time I do have a veteran service organization on, I'm always telling everybody to hit that button up in the top right-hand corner, because that's where they all are and they're all red and you hit it and you donate what you can. We just need to find a way to finance your operation. You know you don't want to saddle dad with it. You know forever. Right, what do you see in the young folks that come to your blog and is there a monthly newsletter associated with it? Or is there an email list to sign up for? How do you communicate with them to get new people registered?
Azara Emami:Yes, so we have a monthly newsletter that we always send out. We also have a connect with that we always send out. We also have a connect with us page where kids can put their emails in and just send us an email. Well, we were actually thinking of making another page which is like a chat with this page. So we were thinking of setting a date where we would either make a Zoom meeting or something so that kids can get on and, instead of just like a, a questionnaire, we can just have a time to chat. So anything that these kids want to say, we can just talk with them. So we just, yeah, so to sign up for our blog. We have also an email list page where they can just add their email and they'll get our monthly newsletter yeah, the greatest way we're trying to bring awareness about this is by word of mouth.
Sinaiyah Emami:So, between so, every time we talk about the blog, it's usually oh, sign up for our email list. You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. But our greatest, our greatest goal especially for Zarnite, because we're children of Wounded Nail Ninja Veterans, so we're kind of still walking through what these kids that are coming to our blog are walking through as well.
Sinaiyah Emami:We're going through the exact same things. So the biggest thing is just so that we can build relationships with these kids, while also thinking about safety. I mean, this is online. Online, it's not always safe, and we are working as R and I are working to figure out how we can make the blog as safe as we can while being online.
Larry Zilliox:What's the address of the blog so all our listeners can go and see it?
Sinaiyah Emami:Well, you can look us up at wesignup2.com.
Larry Zilliox:Right, okay, and that's where our listeners can get your newsletter. Okay, good, when you think about the challenges that young people who are children of Wounded Warriors face, what would you say is the number one challenge that they face today?
Azara Emami:Well, it does depend, because I think one very main issue is either loneliness or just sadness. You know like sadness is a regular thing, many people face it, but there is a different type of sadness when it comes to these children. They have sadness coming from feeling lonely. They have sadness from feeling like, oh, my parents don't need me, you know. Or why is my dad always so angry at me? Why is my mom always jumping at me? They just are very confused. We don't understand.
Sinaiyah Emami:Right, and I think I want to second that, because loneliness is a big thing. You, you, these kids were. I mean, we're going into school every day and you're around your peers, but not a lot of peers know what you're going through. There's also, I would say, loss, because loss can always loss comes in different forms, but I think with Azara and I are it's.
Sinaiyah Emami:It's the loss of, like you know, some childhood memories as well, because these kids are thrown into a life where and they're dealing well, they're dealing with things that children normally don't deal with, and so they have to grow up much faster. So they're facing challenges like that and also they're living in a house that sometimes and I think the biggest thing is when a parent is injured, sometimes there's not a lot of talk around that. Like we've had friends that talking about a parent's injuries is unheard of in their household, and so there's a lot of miscommunication when it comes to that. And that's why we were really thankful for what our parents did was they always educated us, they were very open, like this is what dad's going through, this is what mom struggles with, because that's big for the kids to know. Sharing this with kids, it really helps them understand where their parents are coming from. So when that's not being happening, there's not a lot of communication.
Larry Zilliox:So do you think that, when some parents believe that it's best for the children to be shielded from this, that it's actually more harmful, that the inclusion in the complete understanding of the situation is more beneficial for the children than trying to shield them from it?
Sinaiyah Emami:I think there are, of course, things you share and things you don't share, but there's definitely. I think it's good. I know that with my parents. They always kept that communication open. They didn't jump in on us. It wasn't like, when my dad came home, okay, this is what's happening. It was very gradual and I think the biggest thing is to keep communication open. I think that's what is missing a lot. There's not a lot of open communication, so that leads to a lot of wariness when it comes to that Like do I say this, do we discuss this?
Sinaiyah Emami:So I think it definitely depends, but it really helped my sister and I with dealing with what our family was going through, because it brought us together.
Larry Zilliox:We knew that we were fighting this together, we know how to support our parents and that you know, we see families here sometimes that it's sort of obvious that it's almost as though their home life is similar to that of a child of an alcoholic parent, where they go to school, sometimes seek that refuge, maybe go to their friend's house, but they never have their friend to their house because they don't know if mom and dad is going to be okay that day, if there's going to be yelling, if there's going to be an issue that's going to scare somebody, and their life is totally different.
Larry Zilliox:One of the things we so strongly focus on here is inclusion of the entire family in every activity. It's the basis of healing and we know that the children serve right along with the warrior and the whole family serves. And it's so important that our listeners go to weservecom and read this, sign up for the newsletter. Eventually hopefully soon there's going to be a way for you to donate and to fund this so that it reaches more military children and if you know a child of a wounded warrior, you want to send them a link to this blog. They need to be on this blog in this community, because that's what it's turning into, which I think is really going to be the heart of this organization and eventually I'd like to see it become a nonprofit.
Azara Emami:Yes.
Larry Zilliox:And you know you guys will graduate, go to college, get your MBAs and be the you know the head of this organization. Nothing wrong with that. And because this is so clearly overlooked, there's nobody else out there like you guys doing this, and that's why I'm so happy that you came and sat down with us today to record this, to let everybody know that you know these children are out there and they need help and they need to be able to connect with their peers to say, like you said in the beginning, you're not alone, that you know most of the wounded warriors that get medically separated and leave the military have families, and it's an adjustment for everybody and it's not like a month or two after your parent separates or that everything is normal and everything's integrated into the community like everybody else. And it's just not that way, because now your parents got to find their way to navigate through civilian life and the ups and downs of that, trying to figure out a way to deal with all the things that were provided for you in the military, like a place to live and all sorts of things.
Larry Zilliox:And so I'm fearful that in a lot of those cases, the struggle just to integrate into the community means that the children and their needs are often overlooked and if we can get them connected with you guys so that they have a community where they can Zoom in and you guys are doing like a weekly 7 pm Zoom and they're there to ask questions and say, geez, you know what did you guys do when your parents got out? Maybe you know you've got even peer mentors. I think the sky's the limit for you all and I'm just so excited that you came and joined us. What I'd like to do as we sort of wrap this up, is I'm going to go to each of you and say what's the number one thing you want our listeners to know about? We Signed Up To.
Azara Emami:I think what we want to be represented by, what we want everybody to hear, is that you are not alone and by joining we Signed Up To hopefully later on you will meet these people that you can have lifelong friendships with, you can grow with each other, you can have ideas on how to react when your parents are getting angry, how to help your siblings, how to be a better daughter, be a better son and just to have a community and know that, like I said, you're not alone.
Sinaiyah Emami:I think for me, my one thing I want someone to walk away from this and like from listening to this interview is that we are in the same boat as you are. Just because we started this doesn't mean that we're out of like the hardship we're walking through it daily. I mean, like you said, it's not a oh, two months later we're done. You know we're out of that hardship. It follows you Even when you're out of the house. This is your family. You only get one of them, and so I think I want anyone who is interested in checking out we Signed Up Too to know that we understand and we are. We're the same. We understand, we've walked through this and we just want to be here to really bring friendships and community and just to connect with you honestly.
Larry Zilliox:Well, I think you're well on your way to doing that and it's just amazing the work that you guys are doing. And just to come up with this idea and say I want to look beyond myself and I want to say I want to help people, other kids that are going through the same thing, and I can't think of two better young ladies to do this. This is just, it's great. Everybody needs to go to wesigneduptocom and share that with at least two or three people, send that link out to everybody that you know and let's get as many people signed up on the mailing list as possible and so that as new programs come on board, as there's a schedule for the Zooms or there's just some new information, we want to be able to share it as widely as possible. So I can't thank you enough for coming out and sitting down and talking to us about we Signed Up Too. It's just, it's great. Thank you so much.
Azara Emami:Thank you for having us. Thank you so much. This was amazing.
Larry Zilliox:Well for our listeners. We'll have another episode next Monday morning at 0500. You can find us on your favorite podcast platform. We're also on YouTube and Wreaths Across America Radio, so thanks for listening.
