Welcoming All Hearts: A Love Letter From Our Founder, Kathryn Morris
Hi! I’m Kathryn Morris, Founder/CEO of The Savants.
You may know me from “Cold Case” on CBS – I’ve played the lone detective, Lilly Rush, solving crimes most cops couldn’t solve, in record time, with cool music, for seven seasons.
You may also know me from “The Contender”, “Minority Report”, “Paycheck”, that baking comedy they put on Hallmark, and more recently, “The Dirt” as Nikki Sixx’s alcoholic mother, and some other random stuff over 30+ years as an actress.
And now you’ll also know me as a mama to the coolest twin boys who happen to be on the autism spectrum.
I often get asked, “Where did you go? I miss seeing you on my screen every week! What are you working on/doing next? You’re not even on social media… where are you?!”
I’ve been BUSY… in fact, the twins and I have been busy… on the greatest adventure of our lives.
Let’s get real. You know when everything is love, rainbows, and unicorns and you think you’ve got it all figured it out, “I’m gonna have it all!” and then all of a sudden, lightning strikes? And the bridge you were on takes you on the road less traveled, And you’re thinking, “…But I’m headed that way… we’re going that way… I’m kind of broken-hearted about that way.” But what I didn’t know was there was an entire shimmering portal/yellow brick road pulling me in the other direction… that way.
But can I still be that same person? Will I ever be that same person? Will I be a good enough person for my kids? Will I rise up to meet them? Oh, yeah, and me? What about my people? Who am I? Can I have it all? Can’t they just have it all?
Perhaps the person I was… a creative, a leader, an open-minded free thinker, a hard worker, a health nut, an OK baker, a bad swimmer, a loyal friend, someone who’s always rooted for the underdog, fierce, vulnerable, well-traveled, intuitive…
…could merge to meet the person I’m becoming… more creative, more present, a better baker, healthier, still a bad swimmer, more grateful, more patient, and even more in tune… because of my kids’ “situation”.
So if you’re broken-hearted about your situation (whatever that may be), please come to this party.
If you feel like you’re drowning in the symptoms (whatever your crisis), come to this party.
If you’ve come here because of your little one, I want to offer you a plate of comfort and connection.
The Savants is just that.
You might be on the edge of something difficult or something that could hit you in two weeks or 3 days, whatever.
Here at The Savants, we’re not “curing the gift”, we’re not “curing” autism. We are supporting the symptoms and the comorbid conditions that aren’t always comfortable or fun. We’re supporting everyone here.
We celebrate the cool, the interesting, the differences. We need to laugh. We need to cry. Sometimes it’s good to be comfortably numb, but TOGETHER. There’s no bashing – no autism-mama/dada bashing, no autistic/person-with-autism-bashing.
I’ve had a decade of a diversion that I never expected that’s turned out to be the greatest journey of my life despite its obstacles.
The Savants came about when I was in isolation and despair. And sometimes in those isolation moments, the break in the clouds appears. Something galactic happens and there’s a shift – a portal.
For me, that moment was in my car in the parking lot of the regional center with my first twin – non-verbal, not-responsive, in his own world. After a bunch of early intervention therapies, we got his official Autism diagnosis on his third birthday. I sobbed quietly, hoping my son wouldn’t notice.
He did. For the first time in his life, he began to hum “Love Me Tender” by Elvis Presley – the song I held him to every sleepless night as if to let me know, “Hey, I got you mama, I’m in here.”
So when the next day, his brother, “the wild child”, was also diagnosed, what started out as a double whammy became rocket fuel for our 3-man spaceship.
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Unexpectedly, I noticed in this “crisis” that it was my creative friends who came over from my “previous life” (you know, “that way”?) and supported me the best they knew how. Things were scrappy, but they accepted my children’s differences and saw their gifts – their rocket fuel – when society told me they were not welcome.
And guess what? My children showed me the way to acceptance and actions that work for us to go our own way.
So today — you are welcome here.
Come with us.
If you’re a sibling and you really don’t know what to do to support somebody, or you’re masking your “idk-what-to-do”-ness… come with us.
If you’re a person in the throes of stress, overwhelm, burnout, mental health… come with us. We’re going that way!
Our ideas might not mesh or jive, and that’s okay too.
It’s not just autism stuff. It’s fashion. It’s food. Music. Art. Skincare. Travel. It’s you! Our special interest is you, too.
Here at The Savants, we are storytellers, tastemakers, and rule-breakers… the cool kids, changing the narrative that surrounds labels across the spectrum of our experiences.
We are The Savants.
You’re with us.
xo, Kathryn Morris
Founder/CEO
The Savants
