Clayton Rakes

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Clayton Rakes

🍂 Working to by raking leaves, spreading hope, and raising funds to find a cure through ALS TDI.

We are a family-led effort honoring our dad, Chris Yozwiak. ❤️ Donate now and join our cause!

09/01/2026

When someone dies, you don’t just lose them once. You lose them over and over again.

You lose the future you thought you’d have.

You lose friendships that belonged to a life that doesn’t quite exist anymore.

You lose pieces of your identity.

Those are the secondary losses no one really prepares you for.

It could be a new school year. A new sport. An invitation that doesn’t come.

Someone else’s milestone. Someone else’s completely ordinary Tuesday.

And suddenly you’re not only missing the person. You’re grieving the life that was supposed to keep happening with them.

That’s something I never understood about grief until I lived it.

Because life does keep happening. And somehow you’re expected to keep happening with it. So you do.

You laugh until your stomach hurts and cry twenty minutes later.

You feel incredibly strong and become so fu***ng tired of having to be strong.

You feel grateful for the life you have while grieving the life you lost.

You start finding pieces of yourself again while simultaneously grieving the person you used to be.

And sometimes you experience genuine happiness and discover that happiness doesn’t replace grief.

They sit right next to each other. Grief isn’t the opposite of joy.

I’m learning they can exist in the same body, on the same day, sometimes in the exact same moment.

The further life carries us forward, the more there is for him to miss.

And if I’m being truthful, sometimes moving forward still scares me.

Because I don’t want moving forward to mean leaving him behind.

But I’m learning to carry what was while making room for what is.

I can miss him and still laugh. I can love him and still love my life.

I can grieve everything that should have been and still wonder about what might be.

I can be deeply sad and genuinely happy.

I can carry him with me without staying exactly where he left me.

Maybe moving forward doesn’t mean leaving him behind at all.

Maybe this is exactly what he was asking me to do.

For anyone moving through their own grief today, however that looks for you, I hope you know there is room for all of it.

07/03/2026

Most people probably don’t know that Chris owned fireworks stores.

To our family, fireworks have never been just fireworks.

They represent a dream. They represent risk, hard work, grit, and the belief that if you’re willing to work for it, you can build something meaningful.

Every Fourth of July, we’ll always think of Chris. Not just because of what he built, but because of the example he set.

One of the greatest gifts he’s left behind is watching his entrepreneurial spirit live on through Brady and Brook. What started as Brady’s simple idea to honor his dad through Clayton Rakes has grown into something that continues to make a difference.

That’s what fireworks represent to us.

Not just a celebration in the sky, but a reminder that one life, lived with purpose, can continue to light the way for others.

Happy Fourth of July weekend. 🎆🇺🇲

06/24/2026

Yesterday was International Widows Day.

Widowhood is not a title I ever imagined carrying, but it is now part of my story.

These slides share pieces of that journey, the love, the loss, the grief, the gratitude, and the purpose that has slowly grown from it.

I would give anything to have Chris here. But I’ve also learned that grief and gratitude can live side by side. That love continues. And that even in the deepest pain, purpose can become a light forward.

To every widow carrying both love and loss, I see you. I’m thinking of you, and I’m holding you close today and every day. 🤍

06/23/2026

Brady got to live out a dream he has had since he joined his team 5 years ago: playing in Cooperstown.

It was a week full of baseball, friendships, memories, growth, and all the emotions that come with watching your kid do something big.

More than anything, I loved watching Brady be with his team, make memories with his friends, and grow in ways that had nothing to do with the scoreboard.

There was also something really meaningful about being in Cooperstown, walking through the Baseball Hall of Fame, seeing Lou Gehrig’s plaque, and being reminded of the powerful connection between baseball and ALS. Hearing the words from his “luckiest man” speech hit differently when ALS is part of your own family’s story.

Baseball has always been part of Brady’s story, and I know Chris would have loved seeing him there. I’m just grateful Brady had the chance to experience something so special with a group of boys who have been on this journey together for so long.

Cooperstown, you were unforgettable.

06/21/2026

This will be our third Father’s Day without Chris.

And if I’m being honest, Father’s Day is still really hard.

It’s not just missing him. It’s watching Brady and Brooklyn miss their dad. It’s thinking about the games he should be at, the conversations they should be having, the memories they should still be making, and all the everyday moments he should be here for.

But even in missing him, I see him everywhere.

I see him in Brady’s heart, his kindness, and his entrepreneurial spirit. He has Chris’s drive, his vision, and that same gift of wanting to help other people.

And Brook is Chris all the way through. His quick wit, his stubborn strong will, his humor, his fire. She beats to her own drum, does not care what anyone thinks, and makes us laugh constantly. She carries so much of him.

So today, we honor him. We miss him. We talk about him. We laugh. We cry. We carry the grief and the love together.

And we remind ourselves that Chris’s love did not leave with him. It still shows up in the stories we tell, the laughter we share, and the pieces of him I see every day in Brady and Brook.

Chris, we love you and miss you more than words. Happy Father’s Day. 🤍

06/19/2026

Thirteen. 🥳

Tomorrow my Brady becomes a teenager, and I honestly don’t know how we got here so fast.

I still see the little boy in him, but I also see this young man emerging with the biggest heart, deep faith, and a soul that feels so much older than his years.

This will be his third birthday without his dad here, and that part will always hurt. Birthdays just don’t feel the same without Chris, because he brought so much fun and life into everything. But even in the sadness, there is still so much to celebrate. And so much of Chris still alive in Brady.

Brady, you have always been big and strong, and I know there has often been this quiet expectation for you to lead, to carry, and to be strong in ways that are a lot for any kid. But beyond what you do on any field, what I am most proud of is your heart.

The way you check on me, the way you love and protect Brook, the way you care deeply about others, the way you keep finding your faith, and the way you continue to honor your dad through Clayton Rakes and ALS.

You are funny, resilient, kind, strong, wildly immature in all the right 13-year-old ways, and wise beyond your years in the ways that matter most.

I see so much of your dad in you, but I also see so much of you, Brady, and that is the greatest gift.

Happy 13th birthday, B. I am so proud of who you are, what you have overcome, and the young man God is shaping you to be. I love you more than you will ever understand. 🤍

06/02/2026

Today is Lou Gehrig Day.

For most people, Lou Gehrig Day is about honoring a baseball legend. For our family, it is about something much more personal.

It is about a little boy who grew up loving baseball.

It is about a dad who loved sports, competition, his kids, and life.

It is about Chris.

Lou Gehrig died of ALS in 1941. Chris died of ALS in 2024.

Eighty-five years later, families are still hearing the same diagnosis. Eighty-five years later, families are still watching someone they love lose the ability to move, speak, eat, breathe, and live the life they were meant to live. Eighty-five years later, families are still waiting for a cure.

That is why this day matters.

It matters because ALS is not just a disease connected to a famous baseball player. It is a disease that is still devastating families every single day.

And for us, baseball will always be part of this story. It was part of Chris’ childhood, part of the way he loved life, and part of the way Brady still carries him with him.

For Chris. For Lou. For every family still waiting. We won’t stop until there is a cure.

05/07/2026

This Mother’s Day, during ALS Awareness Month, I keep thinking about the moms who are mothering through grief.

The widows. The families left behind. The women trying to keep life moving while carrying a weight no one else can really see.

Grief does not pause for motherhood.

It comes with you to the grocery store, the sidelines, the laundry room, the car, and the middle of the night when your child is crying and you are trying to be steady, even though you are hurting too.

As a widow, solo parenting is different.

It is not a weekend. It is not a season. It is every day, every night, every decision, every emergency, every hard conversation, and every moment you wish there was another parent standing next to you.

And somehow, you keep going.

Because love makes you get back up.

To every grieving mom, every widow raising grieving kids, and every family left behind by ALS or any disease that took someone too soon, I see you.

You are carrying more than most people will ever know.

05/04/2026

Yesterday’s All Out for ALS at was truly something special. 🧡💙

I am still trying to find the words for the way this community showed up. To everyone who took the class, donated, bought raffle tickets, shared the event, cheered us on, or simply stood beside us, thank you. It turned one workout into something so much bigger.

For me, Orangetheory has never just been a place to sweat. It has been a place that helped carry me through some of the hardest days of my life. So to see that same room filled with people moving for Chris, for Kenna’s aunt Susan, and for every family still living in the fight against ALS was incredibly emotional.

ALS steals movement, speech, swallowing, breathing and time. But yesterday, we used our movement to fight back.

Every dollar raised goes directly toward ALS research through and helps bring hope, urgency, and progress to families who deserve more time.

Many thanks to every single person who showed up, gave, raffled, loved, supported, and went all out for something bigger than all of us.

For Susan.
For Chris.
For every family still fighting.

05/01/2026

May is ALS Awareness Month 💙

ALS is not just a disease. It is a family earthquake.

It shakes everything. Your health. Your home. Your marriage. Your kids. Your plans. Your hope. The life you thought you were building.

It takes and takes, and somehow the people fighting it are still asked to be brave every single day.

For us, ALS will always have a name. Chris.

It will always have a face. A dad. A husband. A coach. A friend. A guy who loved sports, his yard, his people, and this life.

So this month, and always, we raise awareness for the ones still fighting, for the families carrying the weight, for the kids who have had to grow up too fast, and for the future we refuse to stop believing in.

We love you, Chris. We miss you every second. And we will keep fighting until ALS is no longer a sentence for another family.

💙

Address

Hudson, OH

Website

https://www.als.net/news/rake-for-als/, https://fundraise.als.net/rake, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NGbhKLjfNjyxvOM

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