Castillo Crusaders

10/09/2024

Those in the Amarillo area, join us and let’s ride!

02/28/2024

At this point everyone is well aware of the devastation in the Texas panhandle. More than 850,000 acres have burned and continue to burn with just 3% containment. This is because our fire and rescue have been more focused on evacuations and rescue than fighting the fire because lives matter.

And with that sacrifice, so much has been lost. Livelihoods, homes, memories, stability and people’s peace. Some do not even know yet what lies ahead of them because they have yet to be allowed back. It has hit close to home. This area that has been my home for 20 years now. My friends, my team members, my chosen family have been impacted and it is time for us to step up and be prepared to come together as a community to help.

The communities are overwhelmed right now with still fighting fires and have not yet located a place for all donations so right now, we will be gathering items at our house in preparation of being able to divide and provide where necessities are needed. We will be set up on Sunday outside our home gathering donations if anyone would like to bring anything by. Anything big or small will help. Water, hygiene items, clothes, canned goods, non-perishables, first-aid items, anything you feel led to donate. If you would like to donate monetarily, I will post our Venmo and CashApp below.

Below are some personal pictures sent by one of my team members whose uncle lost his home in Stinnett and whose mom narrowly escaped losing hers. He also provided some additional photos of the neighborhood they were in today surveying the damage. This is real, this is devastating and it is time to do what God has led us to do and that is help our brothers and sisters as they battle through this war.

11/01/2023

What a crazy couple of months it’s been! September was full of Su***de Awareness events, work travel, and a couple of close call medical emergencies that changed our outlook on life even more. October we were focused on just making it through my sister’s birthday month through the yearly pain. We also celebrated our wind sister’s life by participating in her first year memorial run. We topped off October with some time around our neighborhood. This month was time full of fellowship and love to get us through a tough time! Here is a small look back at the last two months…

07/23/2023

Hell yeah….let’s ride!

07/20/2023

This is so true. The immense grief, it was so many years of love I had left to give.💜💜

07/19/2023

Please help us try to reach our goal to continue our mission. If each of my friends could donate $5, it would help us get to our goal. Thank you so much for backing this dream of ours!!

Donations are tax deductible and all tax forms will be sent in January of each year. 💜💜

07/17/2023

We had a great weekend representing the Castillo Crusaders Foundation and Texas Lady Riders!

Saturday morning was spent on a benefit run for Ari Strong- Arianna’s fight against Rhabdomyosarcoma . We were blessed with the opportunity to meet her and visit with her family to hear more about their journey and provide our support. She’s a strong young lady!!

Saturday afternoon we then went to support our wind sister’s grandson. This young man has earned a trip to the Jr. Olympics and served us some amazing food! What a sweet and driven young man with a servant’s heart.

Saturday evening we were able to wind down celebrating our wind sister’s birthday! We enjoyed some great food, music and drinks while spending time together as a big family. We laughed more than we had in awhile. We are blessed with everyone in our lives supporting us in all that we do.

It is your support that gives us the ability to represent our foundation and continue my sister’s legacy. Thank you!

07/15/2023

Grief is so well described here. It’s often a frequent occurrence to be reminded that my sister is gone. So I lift my head up, wipe my tears and set out to continue her legacy. Lost in grief is an overwhelming feeling. Finding a purpose is where the healing begins.

What does Grief feel like?

Grief feels like you are moving through a bad dream you can’t wake up from.

Grief is constantly asking “Why?” and knowing even if you had the answers they would never be good enough.

Grief is feeling lost in the places you have been before and being homesick for the past.

Grief feels like a deep ache that you can’t seem to pinpoint where it hurts…but the pain is there.

Grief is feeling a part of you went away with them on the day they died.

Grief is people saying lots of unhelpful things because they want you to feel better. Little do they know that when they say “They would want you to happy/strong” makes us feel that we are disappointing the ones we lost for feeling like we do.

Grief is just going through the motions of your day in a steady haze.

Grief is the constant tug of war of holding on tightly to what was and letting go of what might have been.

Grief is walking through a thick brain fog with your loss always on your mind but your daily tasks far from it.

Grief is Googling if how you are feeling is normal and desperately looking for a timelines for when you might be better. Being rushed by others to move on makes this even harder to heal on your own time.

Grief is having the overwhelming feeling of guilt for moving on without them or for things that were said or went unsaid.

Grief is comparing yourself to how others are grieving and wondering if you are doing it right.

Grief is losing that feeling of “being home”.

Grief is the feeling of being alone when you are with a group of people.

Grief shakes you to your core, spins you around and drops you off in the middle of wreckage exposing your vulnerability.

Grief is judging yourself for not being further than you are in your healing. Talk to yourself like you are consoling your best friend if they were going through the same thing.

Grief can make you feel anger and question your faith.

Grief can feel different from day to day even hour by hour. There are emotional ups and downs, drop offs, exhausting climbs and switch backs.

Grief is the tossing and turning of sleepless nights and just wanting some respite from your own thoughts.

Grief cant be outrun. It catches up with you. Feeling it (even the sharpest edges) is the only way through.

Grief can sometimes feel like looking at the world through a dark filter with the colors you used to love muted in comparison.

Grief is whispering “I miss you” and looking everywhere for a sign from them.

Grief is worrying that you will never feel normal and comfortable in your own life again.

Grief feels like just wanting a hug or a simple “I’m here for you” instead of people trying to rationalize your loss or try to fix how you are feeling.

Grief is the rude awakening that when your whole world world has stopped, the rest of the world keeps moving unscathed.

Grief feels like choosing to be alone because small talk is exhausting and being with people who can’t relate feels even more isolating.

Grief feels like suffocating on the reality that there will be no new memories so you hold on so tightly to the past.

Grief feels like backing out of plans because you aren’t sure how you will feel on that particular day.

Grief feels like fear. We have seen that life is fragile and that can bring out anxiety and panic attacks.

Grief is waking up in the morning and losing them all over again.

Grief is going about your everyday tasks and being hit with a wave of sadness and disbelief at the realization that they are gone.

Grief feels like being deep in dispair and for some time, it may feel like you don’t have a place in this world.

Grief feels like being back to the first day you lost them after hearing a particular song or driving past a place you enjoyed together.

Grief is feeling a little jealous of seeing others with their loved ones and envious of seeing people in their mundane lives.

Grief feels like dreading holidays and special events instead of how you used to look forward to them.

Grief is trying to pretend you are ok on the outside while feeling torn apart on the inside.

Grief is wanting others to mention their loved one and wishing people knew that it helps to hear their name and stories about them. They are never far from our minds anyways.

Grief is learning that these feelings are ever changing and it will be with us in some degree for the rest of our lives.

Grief is a measure of how much love you gave them while they were here so the pain is of losing them fills that empty space. In time, we learn how to live with that heaviness.
The heartache begins to soften.
Tears and smiles can coexist.

Grief is learning how to keep them close to us in other ways. The best memories can never die. And because of that, we will carry it with us until we see them again.

Wonderfully written by Kristie Reitz
(The After Glow) ❤️

07/09/2023

It was a blessing to know this woman. She was fearless, kind, loving and loved. When I lost my sister in Dec 2020, she was there for me and mine. I questioned how God could take her from us less than two years after the worst loss of my life that I will never get over, but it also pushed me to find my purpose. So here I am, with my family, doing what I can to be of service to others. To show others they are loved in for forms of community service and financial support as we can. While the losses haven’t gotten easier as time goes by, they have pushed me to forge a different path.

This time last year my sister Angelica was calling me, texting me and praying for me as we were preparing ourselves for days ahead knowing my Viejito was at the end of his life. Sadly to say a month and days later she had her motorcycle accident and became our wind Angel on October the 21st.
Now this year it is us making plans for her Memorial Run! Life is never the same when we loose a loved one. We all miss her dearly and it is our Honor to be able to plan this run for her.
Roxie❣️

07/07/2023

I am finding my purpose.