About Us
Why “Eleventh Willow”
The willow is one of the most resilient trees. It symbolizes flexibility and adaptability, qualities necessary to parenting in general and to parenting in light of mental illness specifically. The willow tree is a survivor, but is also associated with grief and mourning—the weeping willow. In the Bible, the willow tree symbolizes rebirth (Ezekiel 17:5), loss and hope (Psalm 137), and celebration (Leviticus 23:40).
“Eleventh” comes from the eleventh hour – the last opportunity before it is too late. As parents of children with mental illness, we all feel that urgent desire for our child’s healing. Any hour could be the eleventh one – the moment our children are destroyed by their disease.
What Conditions do our Children Have?
Instead of spelling out each of our children’s conditions, in order to protect their privacy, we have compiled a list of the conditions that Eleventh Willow bloggers’ children suffer from collectively.
Bipolar, Schizoaffective Disorder, Depression, Depressive Mood Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Tourette’s Syndrome, Gender Dysphoria, PANS, OCD, Selective Mutism, General Anxiety Disorder, Severe Anxiety Disorder, ADHD, and High Functioning Autism
Amber Healy
Amber Healy is a Christian mother of four amazing children. She holds a BA in Social Ecology from UC Irvine with specializations in Psychology and Social Behavior and Environmental Health and Planning. Having recently retired from homeschooling and recycling 18 years’ worth of curriculum back into the community, she is re-focusing her attention to her husband of nearly 30 years and currently reads applications for UC San Diego. And she keeps trying to remind herself to live by Grace, not perfection.
Georgia Mathison
Initially raised in southern California, Georgia Mathison lives in Rhode Island and has four children, two of whom have graduated homeschooling and two that are eighth and ninth-grade homeschoolers.
Georgia married her high school sweetheart at twenty-one and entered right into her dream career path—marketing. After working in agencies for thirteen years and a few moves from the west to the east coasts and back again, she enjoyed being a mother, homeschooling her four children, tutoring, directing a young children's choir, doing freelance marketing projects on the side, and honing her artistic and design skills in everything creative. She owns her own writing business, The Sanguine Pen, and writes blogs and articles geared toward her passions. Georgia enjoys her carpool kid karaoke time where she has lots of meaningful conversations with her kids, DIYing, and mountain biking whenever time permits. "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26
Lisa Pelissier
Lisa Pelissier lives in Oregon where she is a homeschool mother of four, all who have suffered from mental health issues. She is a self-published author of four middle-grade fiction novels and one YA fantasy. Lisa owns SneakerBlossom Books, offering Christian, classical homeschool study guides and curriculum. She also works as a freelance copy editor, tutor, substitute teacher, and virtual assistant. Lisa graduated from Biola University in 1992 with a B.A. in Christian Education with dual emphases in music and elementary education. In her spare time Lisa enjoys making art, playing the piano, and fretting about things over which she has no control.