Happy New Year, friends!

As I write this letter, I’m sitting in my own dining room, gazing into my cozy living room with a glimmering Christmas tree, listening to the sounds of my heater and dishwasher running, and feeling grateful. So much has happened since I wrote my last Christmas letter in 2023. So much has changed. But God has faithfully carried us through every single day. I can genuinely say, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”—Psalm 16:5-6. I’ve seen His active and powerful hand at work in every aspect of my life, and even though I’ve probably spent more time crying on my face than I ever have before, I’ve also been provided for, carried, and comforted by Him in new and abundant ways I might have never imagined unless He’d walked me through it.

At the end of January, I got my first job outside the home! I’m now working as a front-of-house team member at Chick-fil-A in Somerset Plaza, which has been a great experience. It’s a fantastic team of people, and a pleasant and positive environment. I’ve really appreciated the different skillsets that being in the workforce helps me develop: stamina and consistency for long hours serving customers, handling the ins and outs of paperwork, working as a part of a group toward success. I’d gladly say that working there is…my pleasure. 😉

In April, I took a more definite step forward in my separation/divorce and moved out of the Hartwell Brook house. We have so many happy memories there, but hard and sad memories too, and starting over in a new apartment in Hudson has proven a wonderful, safe, and comfortable place to land. God provided the perfect place to live at just the right time; I’m still in awe each time I tell anyone the story. I’m so thankful for the many friends and Christian brothers and sisters who helped me make that transition, hefted boxes, sent housewarming gifts and necessities for me and the kids, and helped me make my new place a home. We have wonderful neighbors, a beautiful sunporch to enjoy in the warm weather, and access to a swimming pool that the kids and I enjoyed for hours and hours this summer! Our landlords also have cats, who occasionally sneak through the connection between their basement and our unit, and come upstairs to visit us, much to the delight of all.

In July, I had the immense joy of joining and being baptized at my new church, Trinity Baptist in Nashua. I’ve been attending Trinity since fall of 2024, and I’ve been so blessed by the heart, worship, teaching, and community there. At this point the kids also attend with me every other week, which is such a delight. This summer we even had the fun of going camping—our first-ever camping trip!—with some families from church, which was a fantastic new adventure for all of us. I’m so thankful for this welcoming and kind body of believers. ❤ In 2026 I hope to be able to join the worship team, a lifelong dream I’m very excited about!

This October hit us with a new curveball, when a “simple” urgent care visit turned into a multi-day hospital stay and Walter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). This has impacted all of our daily rhythms, as now we have to check his blood sugar levels and count every carb he’s about to eat so he can have a shot of insulin before meals or snacks. Being a meticulous kiddo and a lover of routine, and not afraid of needles at all, Walter’s done an amazing job adapting to this new life challenge, and I’ve also watched his sense of delight and vibrancy in life return, as the insulin now enables his body to properly process what he eats and get energy from those carbs. As a mama, it does my heart so much good to see him feeling so much healthier and happier.

Medical diagnoses and tough relationship realities aside, nothing this year was harder than losing our Cora in 2024. The absence of her stretches quietly across every aspect of life, existing under the busy patchwork quilt of everyday happenings, but every so often reaching out and grabbing our ankles when we least expect it, taking our breath away. I know she is with Jesus, worshipping and enjoying Him with her characteristic passion and everlasting joy, and that knowledge brings some needed warmth to that blanket of grief. I’ve also been deeply comforted in watching how my other kiddos have grown and thrived, continuing to blossom despite the tough hand they’ve been dealt in the past couple of years.

Charles (14) is almost as tall as me now and in his first year of high school…what?? At the end of summer he went on his freshman trip, traveling with our school’s entire high school to a lake house in Pennsylvania for a week. He came back with tons of fun memories, photos, and gifts for everyone. I’m loving watching him grow into such a thoughtful, responsible, and generous young man, and flourish in all his creative abilities too. This year he’s gotten into Dungeons & Dragons, and started writing his own homebrew campaign as the DM, with me as a player. He’s also been writing his own superhero novel, making digital art, and learning more about how to cook. But probably the biggest update for his year, which he is the most excited about, is his JOB. That’s right!! This October, Charles joined me in the workforce at Chick-fil-A, where he loves serving customers and being part of the team. He’s doing fabulously, and dreams of someday working in the kitchen so he can “make a perfect chicken sandwich that makes somebody’s day better.”

Elinor (11) is in 6^th grade now and continues to burst at the seams with creativity. If she isn’t dreaming up plans for her future milkshake business, she’s drawing, painting, writing stories, crafting something out of random odds and ends, or posing her American Girl dolls for elaborate doll photography projects. She is a busy bee who never stops doing. She’s also a social bee who wants to be a part of every single Bible study or fellowship opportunity that exists! She attends the youth group at Trinity on Wednesday nights, and a girls’ Bible study every other Friday, and is deeply devoted to all of her friends in both of her churches and her school. She’s a thorough and organized kiddo who loves planning and orchestrating events and coming up with a fun, on-theme outfit or costume for every special occasion. Her talent astounds me, and I have several of her original paintings hanging on the walls of my apartment already…I know they’re going to be the first of many.

Walter (10) is in 4^th grade and shooting up like a weed. With a new chronic health condition affecting his daily life and health, he’s had a tough year, but he’s been such a trooper, and is so sharp and on top of things that we suspect he’ll be handling a lot of his own diabetes care before too long! He’s still sweet, still snuggly, still a whiz at math, and definitely still obsessed with Legos. He builds the most intricate and creative mech robots with them! This year saw him shift his secondary interest a bit from dinosaurs to dragons, though, and he has been filling pages and pages of his sketchbooks with new dragon species he’s inventing, as well as many other kinds of animals, robots, and fantasy creatures. I’m constantly amazed at the things that come out of his imagination. He and Elinor have become much closer friends this year, too, and it makes me so happy to watch them play and create together.

As for me, in addition to all of the other busyness from the start of this letter, I’ve also been writing again. Time, space, a safe and cozy home, and a lot of griefs and burdens to process have made this the most prolific writing year I’ve had in probably over a decade. I’ve been bursting with creativity! In 2026 I hope to release another short story and poetry collection, as well as pursuing some other entrepreneurial endeavors. I’ve also hung out my shingle again as an editor and graphic designer, and learned so many new skills and DIY abilities as I’ve made my apartment a home. Over the course of the year, my other highlights have been a trip to warm Florida and Cape Canaveral during snowy February (now I get why so many people do this!), joyous visits with my best friends, and hosting a fun ladies’ night at my apartment for friends both new and old.

I’m so thankful, in all of the ups and downs and changes and joys and tragedies of years like these, that we have Immanuel, God With Us, at the helm, and holding us close to His heart and under His wings. He came into this world for the broken. He came for the bruised. He came for the bleeding. He came for widows, orphans, boys and girls, wounded souls, and tattered sheep cast out by the fold. In a time of social and national tumult and division, marked by so much disunity and hurt between people and even between the people of God, I often think of the beautiful lyrics of O Come, O Come, Immanuel:

O come, O king of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind
Bid thou our sad divisions cease
And be thyself our King of Peace.

May He be your king of peace this year, a presence that stills the raging storms in your heart and life and teaches you to walk bravely on the water with Him.

With love,

Constellation, and Charles, Elinor, and Walter

BONUS VERSION! – a 2025 Christmas letter from the whole system

Our dearest trusted friends,

This has been a year of so much change, and so much growth, it’s hard to even begin to put into words the many things God’s brought us through and taught us, but we’d like to take a moment to praise Him and also thank YOU for the many ways you’ve loved on us, supported us, and walked with us this year (and last year) in some of the hardest things imaginable.

As most of you know, we are going through a divorce. In addition to the natural challenges of co-parenting, handling rumors and social complexities around the separation, and dealing with legal and personal difficulties, we never imagined that we would have to develop as many new skillsets as we have in this big life transition. God has equipped us in exactly the ways we’ve required, and provided for us in precisely the ways we’ve needed, again and again. There’s nothing like suffering and need to display how present and active God’s hand actually is in our life circumstances, every day. He is our daily bread. He is our very good shepherd. He is our very present help in times of trouble. And as a whole system, we would love to proclaim what He’s been up to in our lives this year!

In January, Kevin got us an interview—and, praise God, immediately a job offer—at Chick-fil-A at Somerset Plaza in Nashua. This is our first job working outside the home. Kevin has fully captained this endeavor, learning each new process and skill and then helping other alters come alongside him to learn it too. He enjoys the job immensely(“It really is my pleasure!”), and because of his energy, leadership, and appreciation of being a breadwinner, we’ve been able to cheerily sustain this job, working 3 or 4 days a week and occasionally spending as long as 9 hours on our feet at a time. Kevin, Josh, Andrew, Larkin, Catherine, Tig, and Ithy have been our main Chick-fil-A workers, bringing consistent energy and eagerness to serve to our team there, which we so appreciate.

In late March, in the nick of time, God provided us a perfect and beautiful apartment to live in, in Hudson, NH. Our landlords are amazing and we even have a gorgeous pool to swim in during the warmer months, which was a huge highlight of our summer. Orrie, Ithy, Alison, Kevin, and all of us have organized and decorated to make the place our own, and it’s been such a safe haven and a joy. We’ve been calling our current home “Star Harbor”: a safe place to rest on our journey, a shelter, a launching pad for our new life. We don’t know how long we’ll be living here, but we’re thankful for every day of it.

Thraunya and James have led the way in handling legal matters, with support from Orrie and others. They have managed many meetings with our attorney, and Thraunya also represented the system by showing up in court when we petitioned for a temporary custody and parenting plan. We’re deeply grateful for the generous friends who helped us financially in paying for our legal assistance—we don’t know where we’d be without you. Thank you, thank you. Catherine also assisted in the legal and logistical arena by taking the lead with monetary matters this year, many times handling complex paperwork and math for our personal and family finances.

Orrie, Daik, and Tig have thrown themselves into many hours thinking, praying, and organizing for our future creative endeavors. While all of us are involved in our creative work in many ways, this is an area the three of them have spearheaded, planning and organizing for 2026. In the coming year we hope to release another short story and poetry collection similar to Severed Veil, as well as open an online shop and serve the DID community in some new and different ways. Tig would also love to launch some kind of comedy outlet this coming year to post Christian and mental health humor, which we hope will encourage and brighten people’s days.

While much of our writing has been personal and private, in the past year and a half we turned to writing in much of our emotional processing. Since Cora’s passing in 2024, we have produced more short stories and fiction than we’d previously written in years. We’re so thankful to have this creative outlet, a gift from God to connect with one another and express the things He’s teaching us in our griefs and growth. All of us write, when we feel the pull to do so, but Uryaldis has been the most prolific—this year he turned out an entire novella of the untold backstory of his original character from TKT. Lenet, Josh, Orrie, Larkin, and Kevin have also been working on various writing projects in 2025, with aid and support from other alters as cast members and co-writers. We hope 2026 will be a year of finally sharing more of what’s been laid on our hearts and flowed from our typing fingers in the past two years.

Because of her great desire to express her own faith and salvation, Alison fronted during one of the happiest moments of our year (and our entire life)—being baptized as a full system and joining our new church, Trinity Baptist of Nashua, on July 6^th, 2025. Luna wrote and presented our testimony to share with the church beforehand, and several others participated, including Thraunya and also Lorekrez, who got to walk out of the water as a newly baptized Christian. Many of these alters who represented the system in our baptism are the ones who were the most exiled and distant from our faith for our whole life and childhood, so that is deeply significant to us. We’re so thankful to now be a member of Trinity, where brothers and sisters in Christ have blessed us in countless ways this year.

Some of the other highlights in this year of hard knocks, faith, and freedom: a trip to warm Florida and Cape Canaveral in February, wonderful visits and adventures with our best friends, and our first ever camping trip with the kiddos, two nights in Bear Brook State Park here in NH with some friends from Trinity.

It’s been a year of so many firsts and new experiences. First job. First apartment of our own. First camping trip. First visit to Florida. First time appearing in court. First time parenting a child with T1D. With each new step outside our comfort zone, we’re reminded that God is sufficient and powerful to carry us through every new experience and each thing that feels too intimidating. We’ve learned in a whole new way what it means to walk fearlessly with Him, expecting His hand at work in every circumstance, and knowing (in a deep, rock-solid way) the reality of Hebrews 13:20-21:

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

We used to live as though we believed this kind of confidence in Him was arrogance. Why should we believe God had “equipped” us in any way? Why should we believe we’re doing what’s pleasing in His sight? Surrounded by spiritually abusive shadows from our childhood and otherwise, we often felt that to be humble meant to be perpetually insecure and live small. But that’s ultimately unbelief, isn’t it? The New Testament is peppered with intense, rich promises like the one above! When are we going to start living like God doesn’t mean for us to timidly skirt around the edges of the abundant life and promises He’s given us, but instead powerfully take them into our hands, as His generous gifts to us? Our goal for 2026 is to live boldly, speak with power, come before Him with loud prayers in confidence that He is doing good for us, and serve others from the grounded reality that God Himself has sent His Son to cover our sins, give us His power, and deploy us into a world deeply in need. How can we pray for you or encourage you in 2026? Please reach out anytime and let us know!

We love you (yes, you),
All of Constellation