April 21, 2025 • 23 mins
What happens when the children of wounded warriors grow up and decide to create the support system they wish they'd had? Meet Sinaiyah (16) and Azara (14) Emami, two remarkable sisters who are changing the landscape for military children navigating the complexities of life with a wounded parent.
When the Emami sisters first visited the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run in 2018, they were just children seeking respite while their father recovered at Walter Reed. Today, they've returned as visionaries behind "We Signed Up Too," an innovative online community specifically designed for children of wounded, ill, and injured veterans. Their mission emerged from a stark realization: while support systems exist for veterans and caregivers, the children in these families often fall through the cracks, left to navigate complex emotions and responsibilities without dedicated resources.
The sisters speak with striking wisdom about the unique challenges these children face - from profound loneliness and premature responsibility to the complex dynamics of family communication around a parent's condition. "These kids are dealing with things children normally don't deal with," Sinaiyah explains, highlighting how military children often grow up faster, shouldering emotional burdens beyond their years. Their platform addresses these needs through age-appropriate content (blog articles for older kids, craft videos for younger ones), comprehensive resources, and, most importantly, connections with peers who truly understand.
What makes their approach particularly powerful is their authenticity - they're not speaking as outside experts but as fellow travelers on this journey. "Just because we started this doesn't mean we're out of the hardship," Sinaiyah shares. "We're walking through it daily." This lived experience informs every aspect of their work, from the community they're building to their plans for virtual meetups and in-person events. Visit wesigneduptoo.com to explore this groundbreaking resource and help spread the word about this vital community where children of wounded warriors can find understanding, support, and the reassurance that they are never alone. Follow them on Instagram.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Larry Zilliox (00:00):
Good morning.
I'm your host, Larry Zilliox,Director of Culinary Services,
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run, and this week our
guests are the E mami Sisters.
They are two young women whostarted a blog called we Signed
Up Too.
They are military children and,in keeping with our theme this
month of the Military Children'sMonth, we wanted to have them
(00:24):
as guests to tell us about theblog and everything that they're
hoping to accomplish and allthis.
I looked at the blog.
I read just about everything onit and it's got some great
little videos.
So we're going to get into thatin a minute, but I just wanted
you to take turns and introduceyourself, and then we'll talk a
little bit about the fact thatyou guys have been guests here
(00:47):
way back when you were muchshorter, back in 2018.
We'll just go through all ofthat.
So welcome to the podcast.
Azara Emami (00:55):
Thank you, my name is.
Sinaiyah Emami (00:57):
Azara Emami and I'm Sanaya.
Thank you so much for having us.
Larry Zilliox (01:01):
So tell us a little bit about your memory of
the time that you guys came andstayed here with us back in 2018
.
Sinaiyah Emami (01:10):
Well, I think our favorite part was definitely
the family time.
Coming here, it's differentthan being at home, because you
really are able to do thingsthat you can't normally do on a
normal day-to-day basis.
Personally, my favorite partwas the books you guys had.
Oh my gosh.
Actually, we're big readers atour house, and so I just loved
(01:34):
spending time looking at those.
I actually found Nancy Drewbooks there, and you guys let us
take home some books, and thatstarted my obsession, so now I
have the whole collectionactually wow from just being
there wow, great, and you,you're.
Larry Zilliox (01:50):
What did you think about coming here to the
retreat?
Azara Emami (01:53):
I was really excited because I was like, oh,
there's a new place to explore.
And I was all about exploringwhen I was younger, so I would
go outside and be like, oh I, Isee an animal.
You know, I was my own littleexplorer and I got to go into my
own little world and just wewere able to relax and have fun
and bond together.
Larry Zilliox (02:11):
And so you guys came because your dad was part
of the soldier recovery unit atWalter Reed environment and gave
you a chance to just sort ofset that aside and say, hey,
here's some time for us as afamily.
I was looking back through thepictures.
(02:33):
You guys were so much younger.
Now, how old are you?
I'm 14.
14 and you're?
I'm 16.
16.
Wow, so you're driving.
Sinaiyah Emami (02:43):
Yes, well, I'm learning.
Larry Zilliox (02:44):
I like to drive, all right.
So what kind of car is your dadgoing to get you?
Sinaiyah Emami (02:49):
Well, he's going to give me his Jeep.
Larry Zilliox (02:51):
Okay, so I'm happy about that.
Nice, very good, and you'll beable to drive your sister around
.
She's excited about that forsure.
(03:19):
That's awesome.
Well, listen, listen.
It's so good to have you guysback here talk about your new
blog that we signed up to.
I think it's an amazingresource, because there really
isn't anything out there formilitary children of wounded
warriors.
There's resources for militarychildren, but you know, we sort
(04:11):
of adopt the same thing that theDole Foundation does and look
upon children as the hiddenheroes.
Step up and maybe provide somecare or step up and just accept
that your routine and your lifethat you were used to is all
jumbled up around your parents'illness, and so it's quite a
testament to you guys thatyou've found your way through
that, and now you're ready tolaunch this blog and help other
children of wounded warriors,and I just think that's so great
.
So where did the idea come from?
Sinaiyah Emami (04:33):
Well, we have been.
I mean, it was reallyinteresting, because when you're
a military kid, it's you haveyou go through what a military
kid feels, through you havemoves, you have you go through
what a military kid feels, oryou have moves, you have your
parents going on tdy's, butespecially when your parent was
wounded and when they retire andyou're thrown into a whole,
(04:54):
it's like you're being throwninto a whole different
population.
So azar and I kind of realizedthat the population of children
of wounded, ill and injuredveterans are overlooked a lot,
because you have a lot ofresources for the veteran, you
have resources for the spouse,the caregiver, but there's not a
lot put into these childrenthat live with these veterans
(05:18):
and these family members.
And so we wanted to makesomething that would serve two
purposes to bring awareness totheir situation while also
bringing community to them,because you can feel very lonely
, you don't know it, can feellike there's no one out there
that knows what you're goingthrough.
So that's what we wanted to dowith.
(05:39):
We Signed Up Too.
Azara Emami (05:40):
Yeah, we wanted to sort of make a community for
them so that even if they don'thave friends close by them, if
they just made a big hard move,they can still have an online
community and they can makefriends and they can read about
very thought provoking things,they can make crafts just an
online community.
Larry Zilliox (05:57):
Sure, and where do you see the blog going?
What's the focus?
Azara Emami (06:03):
The end goal is to sort of make time for events so
even if people don't live in thesame areas, just we can set up
events in specific areas sothese kids can actually meet in
person and they can actuallymake long lasting friendships.
Sinaiyah Emami (06:19):
And connections right To be able to really like
with our blog if they're able tomeet online to be able to one
day hopefully see wait, I didn'tknow that this person lived 20
minutes from me and reallyyou're just to show these kids
are not alone.
This population is very smalland we want to.
(06:39):
We want these kids to knowthere are others out there.
Larry Zilliox (06:43):
Well, you're dead on in the fact that you know
there's resources for the familywhen you're talking about an
active duty soldier, but oncethe separation happens, there's
resources for veterans throughthe VA or state resources or
county resources and thecaregiver, but nothing for
(07:04):
children.
And you're just sort of left onyour own to try and figure out
that next chapter.
And I think that what you'redoing is just amazing, because
you're laying the groundwork tohave a sort of template to say,
hey, when your mom or dad isseparated and goes before the
(07:28):
medical board and gets medicalretirement, you know, this is
what your next chapter in lifeis going to look like, and we're
here as a community to help,and you've got some videos up.
So what's the?
What are you looking for goingforward?
Is it going to be more contentthat is written, or more content
(07:52):
that's visual, like the videos,or a combination of both?
Azara Emami (07:56):
Well, so there is actually a separation in those
two.
The first part, which is theblog, that's my sister's area
and she's posting articles forkids more like 11 and up, while
I will be posting videos everyother week with crafts, and this
is for kids like 10 and under,and so there is going to be a
separation.
So when these younger kids havesome siblings, they can go and
(08:18):
read the blog while their theiryounger siblings are watching
the videos.
So we are.
I don't think that we mightcollaborate later on.
Sinaiyah Emami (08:26):
Yeah, and we wanted it to be so that we can
cater to every age.
So no matter what age you are,there is a place for you.
Now, especially with thearticles, we want to focus on
issues that face military kids,while also bringing awareness to
different organizations thatare already existing.
(08:49):
So we have one of my favoriteplaces on the blog is actually a
resource page where we havecompiled all different types of
resources, like Bull Run, wherethey have been able to serve
these families, so when kidscome onto our website, they can
find these resources, like sothat they're right there to
maybe share with their familymembers and that they can take
(09:11):
part in these.
Larry Zilliox (09:12):
So who pays for this dad?
Sinaiyah Emami (09:16):
We actually are.
We have been trying to havefundraisers so our family we
held a fundraiser in August oflast year but it definitely is
not.
There are some financial.
It was very hard to like kindof go about it, but we've been
able to get half fundraisers tohold like to be able to host
(09:39):
this.
Larry Zilliox (09:40):
And I understand.
The problem is that you guysare not like a nonprofit entity,
so it's hard to make a donatebutton up in the corner.
I really do want you to find away to finance it, because it's
the only way you're going togrow and we can help promote
(10:01):
that for sure, because everytime I do have a veteran service
organization on, I'm alwaystelling everybody to hit that
button up in the top right-handcorner, because that's where
they all are and they're all redand you hit it and you donate
what you can.
We just need to find a way tofinance your operation.
You know you don't want tosaddle dad with it.
(10:22):
You know forever.
Right, what do you see in theyoung folks that come to your
blog and is there a monthlynewsletter associated with it?
Or is there an email list tosign up for?
How do you communicate withthem to get new people
(10:43):
registered?
Azara Emami (10:44):
Yes, so we have a monthly newsletter that we
always send out.
We also have a connect withthat we always send out.
We also have a connect with uspage where kids can put their
emails in and just send us anemail.
Well, we were actually thinkingof making another page which is
like a chat with this page.
So we were thinking of settinga date where we would either
make a Zoom meeting or somethingso that kids can get on and,
(11:06):
instead of just like a, aquestionnaire, we can just have
a time to chat.
So anything that these kidswant to say, we can just talk
with them.
So we just, yeah, so to sign upfor our blog.
We have also an email list pagewhere they can just add their
email and they'll get ourmonthly newsletter yeah, the
greatest way we're trying tobring awareness about this is by
word of mouth.
Sinaiyah Emami (11:26):
So, between so, every time we talk about the
blog, it's usually oh, sign upfor our email list.
You can follow us on Instagramand Facebook.
But our greatest, our greatestgoal especially for Zarnite,
because we're children ofWounded Nail Ninja Veterans, so
we're kind of still walkingthrough what these kids that are
(11:46):
coming to our blog are walkingthrough as well.
We're going through the exactsame things.
So the biggest thing is just sothat we can build relationships
with these kids, while alsothinking about safety.
I mean, this is online.
Online, it's not always safe,and we are working as R and I
are working to figure out how wecan make the blog as safe as we
(12:07):
can while being online.
Larry Zilliox (12:10):
What's the address of the blog so all our
listeners can go and see it?
Sinaiyah Emami (12:14):
Well, you can look us up at wesignup2.com.
Larry Zilliox (12:17):
Right, okay, and that's where our listeners can
get your newsletter.
Okay, good, when you thinkabout the challenges that young
people who are children ofWounded Warriors face, what
would you say is the number onechallenge that they face today?
Azara Emami (12:38):
Well, it does depend, because I think one very
main issue is either lonelinessor just sadness.
You know like sadness is aregular thing, many people face
it, but there is a differenttype of sadness when it comes to
these children.
They have sadness coming fromfeeling lonely.
They have sadness from feelinglike, oh, my parents don't need
(13:01):
me, you know.
Or why is my dad always soangry at me?
Why is my mom always jumping atme?
They just are very confused.
We don't understand.
Sinaiyah Emami (13:09):
Right, and I think I want to second that,
because loneliness is a bigthing.
You, you, these kids were.
I mean, we're going into schoolevery day and you're around
your peers, but not a lot ofpeers know what you're going
through.
There's also, I would say, loss, because loss can always loss
(13:29):
comes in different forms, but Ithink with Azara and I are it's.
It's the loss of, like you know,some childhood memories as well
, because these kids are throwninto a life where and they're
dealing well, they're dealingwith things that children
normally don't deal with, and sothey have to grow up much
faster.
So they're facing challengeslike that and also they're
(13:53):
living in a house that sometimesand I think the biggest thing
is when a parent is injured,sometimes there's not a lot of
talk around that.
Like we've had friends thattalking about a parent's
injuries is unheard of in theirhousehold, and so there's a lot
of miscommunication when itcomes to that.
And that's why we were reallythankful for what our parents
(14:14):
did was they always educated us,they were very open, like this
is what dad's going through,this is what mom struggles with,
because that's big for the kidsto know.
Sharing this with kids, itreally helps them understand
where their parents are comingfrom.
So when that's not beinghappening, there's not a lot of
communication.
Larry Zilliox (14:35):
So do you think that, when some parents believe
that it's best for the childrento be shielded from this, that
it's actually more harmful, thatthe inclusion in the complete
understanding of the situationis more beneficial for the
children than trying to shieldthem from it?
Sinaiyah Emami (14:57):
I think there are, of course, things you share
and things you don't share, butthere's definitely.
I think it's good.
I know that with my parents.
They always kept thatcommunication open.
They didn't jump in on us.
It wasn't like, when my dadcame home, okay, this is what's
happening.
It was very gradual and I thinkthe biggest thing is to keep
(15:18):
communication open.
I think that's what is missinga lot.
There's not a lot of opencommunication, so that leads to
a lot of wariness when it comesto that Like do I say this, do
we discuss this?
So I think it definitely depends, but it really helped my sister
and I with dealing with whatour family was going through,
because it brought us together.
Larry Zilliox (15:39):
We knew that we were fighting this together, we
know how to support our parentsand that you know, we see
families here sometimes thatit's sort of obvious that it's
almost as though their home lifeis similar to that of a child
of an alcoholic parent, wherethey go to school, sometimes
(16:03):
seek that refuge, maybe go totheir friend's house, but they
never have their friend to theirhouse because they don't know
if mom and dad is going to beokay that day, if there's going
to be yelling, if there's goingto be an issue that's going to
scare somebody, and their lifeis totally different.
One of the things we so stronglyfocus on here is inclusion of
(16:27):
the entire family in everyactivity.
It's the basis of healing andwe know that the children serve
right along with the warrior andthe whole family serves.
And it's so important that ourlisteners go to weservecom and
read this, sign up for thenewsletter.
(16:52):
Eventually hopefully soonthere's going to be a way for
you to donate and to fund thisso that it reaches more military
children and if you know achild of a wounded warrior, you
want to send them a link to thisblog.
They need to be on this blog inthis community, because that's
(17:15):
what it's turning into, which Ithink is really going to be the
heart of this organization andeventually I'd like to see it
become a nonprofit.
Azara Emami (17:26):
Yes.
Larry Zilliox (17:27):
And you know you guys will graduate, go to
college, get your MBAs and bethe you know the head of this
organization.
Nothing wrong with that.
And because this is so clearlyoverlooked, there's nobody else
out there like you guys doingthis, and that's why I'm so
(17:48):
happy that you came and sat downwith us today to record this,
to let everybody know that youknow these children are out
there and they need help andthey need to be able to connect
with their peers to say, likeyou said in the beginning,
you're not alone, that you knowmost of the wounded warriors
(18:12):
that get medically separated andleave the military have
families, and it's an adjustmentfor everybody and it's not like
a month or two after yourparent separates or that
everything is normal andeverything's integrated into the
community like everybody else.
(18:32):
And it's just not that way,because now your parents got to
find their way to navigatethrough civilian life and the
ups and downs of that, trying tofigure out a way to deal with
all the things that wereprovided for you in the military
, like a place to live and allsorts of things.
(18:53):
And so I'm fearful that in a lotof those cases, the struggle
just to integrate into thecommunity means that the
children and their needs areoften overlooked and if we can
get them connected with you guysso that they have a community
where they can Zoom in and youguys are doing like a weekly 7
(19:13):
pm Zoom and they're there to askquestions and say, geez, you
know what did you guys do whenyour parents got out?
Maybe you know you've got evenpeer mentors.
I think the sky's the limit foryou all and I'm just so excited
that you came and joined us.
What I'd like to do as we sortof wrap this up, is I'm going to
(19:35):
go to each of you and saywhat's the number one thing you
want our listeners to know about?
We Signed Up To.
Azara Emami (19:45):
I think what we want to be represented by, what
we want everybody to hear, isthat you are not alone and by
joining we Signed Up Tohopefully later on you will meet
these people that you can havelifelong friendships with, you
can grow with each other, youcan have ideas on how to react
(20:08):
when your parents are gettingangry, how to help your siblings
, how to be a better daughter,be a better son and just to have
a community and know that, likeI said, you're not alone.
Sinaiyah Emami (20:19):
I think for me, my one thing I want someone to
walk away from this and likefrom listening to this interview
is that we are in the same boatas you are.
Just because we started thisdoesn't mean that we're out of
like the hardship we're walkingthrough it daily.
(20:39):
I mean, like you said, it's nota oh, two months later we're
done.
You know we're out of thathardship.
It follows you Even when you'reout of the house.
This is your family.
You only get one of them, andso I think I want anyone who is
interested in checking out weSigned Up Too to know that we
understand and we are.
(21:00):
We're the same.
We understand, we've walkedthrough this and we just want to
be here to really bringfriendships and community and
just to connect with youhonestly.
Larry Zilliox (21:13):
Well, I think you're well on your way to doing
that and it's just amazing thework that you guys are doing.
And just to come up with thisidea and say I want to look
beyond myself and I want to sayI want to help people, other
kids that are going through thesame thing, and I can't think of
(21:34):
two better young ladies to dothis.
This is just, it's great.
Everybody needs to go towesigneduptocom and share that
with at least two or threepeople, send that link out to
everybody that you know andlet's get as many people signed
up on the mailing list aspossible and so that as new
(21:56):
programs come on board, asthere's a schedule for the Zooms
or there's just some newinformation, we want to be able
to share it as widely aspossible.
So I can't thank you enough forcoming out and sitting down and
talking to us about we SignedUp Too.
It's just, it's great.
Thank you so much.
Azara Emami (22:16):
Thank you for having us.
Thank you so much.
This was amazing.
Larry Zilliox (22:19):
Well for our listeners.
We'll have another episode nextMonday morning at 0500.
You can find us on yourfavorite podcast platform.
We're also on YouTube andWreaths Across America Radio, so
thanks for listening.
Good morning.
I'm your host, Larry Zilliox,Director of Culinary Services,
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run, and this week our
guests are the E mami Sisters.
They are two young women whostarted a blog called we Signed
Up Too.
They are military children and,in keeping with our theme this
month of the Military Children'sMonth, we wanted to have them
(00:24):
as guests to tell us about theblog and everything that they're
hoping to accomplish and allthis.
I looked at the blog.
I read just about everything onit and it's got some great
little videos.
So we're going to get into thatin a minute, but I just wanted
you to take turns and introduceyourself, and then we'll talk a
little bit about the fact thatyou guys have been guests here
(00:47):
way back when you were muchshorter, back in 2018.
We'll just go through all ofthat.
So welcome to the podcast.
Azara Emami (00:55):
Thank you, my name is.
Sinaiyah Emami (00:57):
Azara Emami and I'm Sanaya.
Thank you so much for having us.
Larry Zilliox (01:01):
So tell us a little bit about your memory of
the time that you guys came andstayed here with us back in 2018
.
Sinaiyah Emami (01:10):
Well, I think our favorite part was definitely
the family time.
Coming here, it's differentthan being at home, because you
really are able to do thingsthat you can't normally do on a
normal day-to-day basis.
Personally, my favorite partwas the books you guys had.
Oh my gosh.
Actually, we're big readers atour house, and so I just loved
(01:34):
spending time looking at those.
I actually found Nancy Drewbooks there, and you guys let us
take home some books, and thatstarted my obsession, so now I
have the whole collectionactually wow from just being
there wow, great, and you,you're.
Larry Zilliox (01:50):
What did you think about coming here to the
retreat?
Azara Emami (01:53):
I was really excited because I was like, oh,
there's a new place to explore.
And I was all about exploringwhen I was younger, so I would
go outside and be like, oh I, Isee an animal.
You know, I was my own littleexplorer and I got to go into my
own little world and just wewere able to relax and have fun
and bond together.
Larry Zilliox (02:11):
And so you guys came because your dad was part
of the soldier recovery unit atWalter Reed environment and gave
you a chance to just sort ofset that aside and say, hey,
here's some time for us as afamily.
I was looking back through thepictures.
(02:33):
You guys were so much younger.
Now, how old are you?
I'm 14.
14 and you're?
I'm 16.
16.
Wow, so you're driving.
Sinaiyah Emami (02:43):
Yes, well, I'm learning.
Larry Zilliox (02:44):
I like to drive, all right.
So what kind of car is your dadgoing to get you?
Sinaiyah Emami (02:49):
Well, he's going to give me his Jeep.
Larry Zilliox (02:51):
Okay, so I'm happy about that.
Nice, very good, and you'll beable to drive your sister around
.
She's excited about that forsure.
(03:19):
That's awesome.
Well, listen, listen.
It's so good to have you guysback here talk about your new
blog that we signed up to.
I think it's an amazingresource, because there really
isn't anything out there formilitary children of wounded
warriors.
There's resources for militarychildren, but you know, we sort
(04:11):
of adopt the same thing that theDole Foundation does and look
upon children as the hiddenheroes.
Step up and maybe provide somecare or step up and just accept
that your routine and your lifethat you were used to is all
jumbled up around your parents'illness, and so it's quite a
testament to you guys thatyou've found your way through
that, and now you're ready tolaunch this blog and help other
children of wounded warriors,and I just think that's so great
.
So where did the idea come from?
Sinaiyah Emami (04:33):
Well, we have been.
I mean, it was reallyinteresting, because when you're
a military kid, it's you haveyou go through what a military
kid feels, through you havemoves, you have you go through
what a military kid feels, oryou have moves, you have your
parents going on tdy's, butespecially when your parent was
wounded and when they retire andyou're thrown into a whole,
(04:54):
it's like you're being throwninto a whole different
population.
So azar and I kind of realizedthat the population of children
of wounded, ill and injuredveterans are overlooked a lot,
because you have a lot ofresources for the veteran, you
have resources for the spouse,the caregiver, but there's not a
lot put into these childrenthat live with these veterans
(05:18):
and these family members.
And so we wanted to makesomething that would serve two
purposes to bring awareness totheir situation while also
bringing community to them,because you can feel very lonely
, you don't know it, can feellike there's no one out there
that knows what you're goingthrough.
So that's what we wanted to dowith.
(05:39):
We Signed Up Too.
Azara Emami (05:40):
Yeah, we wanted to sort of make a community for
them so that even if they don'thave friends close by them, if
they just made a big hard move,they can still have an online
community and they can makefriends and they can read about
very thought provoking things,they can make crafts just an
online community.
Larry Zilliox (05:57):
Sure, and where do you see the blog going?
What's the focus?
Azara Emami (06:03):
The end goal is to sort of make time for events so
even if people don't live in thesame areas, just we can set up
events in specific areas sothese kids can actually meet in
person and they can actuallymake long lasting friendships.
Sinaiyah Emami (06:19):
And connections right To be able to really like
with our blog if they're able tomeet online to be able to one
day hopefully see wait, I didn'tknow that this person lived 20
minutes from me and reallyyou're just to show these kids
are not alone.
This population is very smalland we want to.
(06:39):
We want these kids to knowthere are others out there.
Larry Zilliox (06:43):
Well, you're dead on in the fact that you know
there's resources for the familywhen you're talking about an
active duty soldier, but oncethe separation happens, there's
resources for veterans throughthe VA or state resources or
county resources and thecaregiver, but nothing for
(07:04):
children.
And you're just sort of left onyour own to try and figure out
that next chapter.
And I think that what you'redoing is just amazing, because
you're laying the groundwork tohave a sort of template to say,
hey, when your mom or dad isseparated and goes before the
(07:28):
medical board and gets medicalretirement, you know, this is
what your next chapter in lifeis going to look like, and we're
here as a community to help,and you've got some videos up.
So what's the?
What are you looking for goingforward?
Is it going to be more contentthat is written, or more content
(07:52):
that's visual, like the videos,or a combination of both?
Azara Emami (07:56):
Well, so there is actually a separation in those
two.
The first part, which is theblog, that's my sister's area
and she's posting articles forkids more like 11 and up, while
I will be posting videos everyother week with crafts, and this
is for kids like 10 and under,and so there is going to be a
separation.
So when these younger kids havesome siblings, they can go and
(08:18):
read the blog while their theiryounger siblings are watching
the videos.
So we are.
I don't think that we mightcollaborate later on.
Sinaiyah Emami (08:26):
Yeah, and we wanted it to be so that we can
cater to every age.
So no matter what age you are,there is a place for you.
Now, especially with thearticles, we want to focus on
issues that face military kids,while also bringing awareness to
different organizations thatare already existing.
(08:49):
So we have one of my favoriteplaces on the blog is actually a
resource page where we havecompiled all different types of
resources, like Bull Run, wherethey have been able to serve
these families, so when kidscome onto our website, they can
find these resources, like sothat they're right there to
maybe share with their familymembers and that they can take
(09:11):
part in these.
Larry Zilliox (09:12):
So who pays for this dad?
Sinaiyah Emami (09:16):
We actually are.
We have been trying to havefundraisers so our family we
held a fundraiser in August oflast year but it definitely is
not.
There are some financial.
It was very hard to like kindof go about it, but we've been
able to get half fundraisers tohold like to be able to host
(09:39):
this.
Larry Zilliox (09:40):
And I understand.
The problem is that you guysare not like a nonprofit entity,
so it's hard to make a donatebutton up in the corner.
I really do want you to find away to finance it, because it's
the only way you're going togrow and we can help promote
(10:01):
that for sure, because everytime I do have a veteran service
organization on, I'm alwaystelling everybody to hit that
button up in the top right-handcorner, because that's where
they all are and they're all redand you hit it and you donate
what you can.
We just need to find a way tofinance your operation.
You know you don't want tosaddle dad with it.
(10:22):
You know forever.
Right, what do you see in theyoung folks that come to your
blog and is there a monthlynewsletter associated with it?
Or is there an email list tosign up for?
How do you communicate withthem to get new people
(10:43):
registered?
Azara Emami (10:44):
Yes, so we have a monthly newsletter that we
always send out.
We also have a connect withthat we always send out.
We also have a connect with uspage where kids can put their
emails in and just send us anemail.
Well, we were actually thinkingof making another page which is
like a chat with this page.
So we were thinking of settinga date where we would either
make a Zoom meeting or somethingso that kids can get on and,
(11:06):
instead of just like a, aquestionnaire, we can just have
a time to chat.
So anything that these kidswant to say, we can just talk
with them.
So we just, yeah, so to sign upfor our blog.
We have also an email list pagewhere they can just add their
email and they'll get ourmonthly newsletter yeah, the
greatest way we're trying tobring awareness about this is by
word of mouth.
Sinaiyah Emami (11:26):
So, between so, every time we talk about the
blog, it's usually oh, sign upfor our email list.
You can follow us on Instagramand Facebook.
But our greatest, our greatestgoal especially for Zarnite,
because we're children ofWounded Nail Ninja Veterans, so
we're kind of still walkingthrough what these kids that are
(11:46):
coming to our blog are walkingthrough as well.
We're going through the exactsame things.
So the biggest thing is just sothat we can build relationships
with these kids, while alsothinking about safety.
I mean, this is online.
Online, it's not always safe,and we are working as R and I
are working to figure out how wecan make the blog as safe as we
(12:07):
can while being online.
Larry Zilliox (12:10):
What's the address of the blog so all our
listeners can go and see it?
Sinaiyah Emami (12:14):
Well, you can look us up at wesignup2.com.
Larry Zilliox (12:17):
Right, okay, and that's where our listeners can
get your newsletter.
Okay, good, when you thinkabout the challenges that young
people who are children ofWounded Warriors face, what
would you say is the number onechallenge that they face today?
Azara Emami (12:38):
Well, it does depend, because I think one very
main issue is either lonelinessor just sadness.
You know like sadness is aregular thing, many people face
it, but there is a differenttype of sadness when it comes to
these children.
They have sadness coming fromfeeling lonely.
They have sadness from feelinglike, oh, my parents don't need
(13:01):
me, you know.
Or why is my dad always soangry at me?
Why is my mom always jumping atme?
They just are very confused.
We don't understand.
Sinaiyah Emami (13:09):
Right, and I think I want to second that,
because loneliness is a bigthing.
You, you, these kids were.
I mean, we're going into schoolevery day and you're around
your peers, but not a lot ofpeers know what you're going
through.
There's also, I would say, loss, because loss can always loss
(13:29):
comes in different forms, but Ithink with Azara and I are it's.
It's the loss of, like you know,some childhood memories as well
, because these kids are throwninto a life where and they're
dealing well, they're dealingwith things that children
normally don't deal with, and sothey have to grow up much
faster.
So they're facing challengeslike that and also they're
(13:53):
living in a house that sometimesand I think the biggest thing
is when a parent is injured,sometimes there's not a lot of
talk around that.
Like we've had friends thattalking about a parent's
injuries is unheard of in theirhousehold, and so there's a lot
of miscommunication when itcomes to that.
And that's why we were reallythankful for what our parents
(14:14):
did was they always educated us,they were very open, like this
is what dad's going through,this is what mom struggles with,
because that's big for the kidsto know.
Sharing this with kids, itreally helps them understand
where their parents are comingfrom.
So when that's not beinghappening, there's not a lot of
communication.
Larry Zilliox (14:35):
So do you think that, when some parents believe
that it's best for the childrento be shielded from this, that
it's actually more harmful, thatthe inclusion in the complete
understanding of the situationis more beneficial for the
children than trying to shieldthem from it?
Sinaiyah Emami (14:57):
I think there are, of course, things you share
and things you don't share, butthere's definitely.
I think it's good.
I know that with my parents.
They always kept thatcommunication open.
They didn't jump in on us.
It wasn't like, when my dadcame home, okay, this is what's
happening.
It was very gradual and I thinkthe biggest thing is to keep
(15:18):
communication open.
I think that's what is missinga lot.
There's not a lot of opencommunication, so that leads to
a lot of wariness when it comesto that Like do I say this, do
we discuss this?
So I think it definitely depends, but it really helped my sister
and I with dealing with whatour family was going through,
because it brought us together.
Larry Zilliox (15:39):
We knew that we were fighting this together, we
know how to support our parentsand that you know, we see
families here sometimes thatit's sort of obvious that it's
almost as though their home lifeis similar to that of a child
of an alcoholic parent, wherethey go to school, sometimes
(16:03):
seek that refuge, maybe go totheir friend's house, but they
never have their friend to theirhouse because they don't know
if mom and dad is going to beokay that day, if there's going
to be yelling, if there's goingto be an issue that's going to
scare somebody, and their lifeis totally different.
One of the things we so stronglyfocus on here is inclusion of
(16:27):
the entire family in everyactivity.
It's the basis of healing andwe know that the children serve
right along with the warrior andthe whole family serves.
And it's so important that ourlisteners go to weservecom and
read this, sign up for thenewsletter.
(16:52):
Eventually hopefully soonthere's going to be a way for
you to donate and to fund thisso that it reaches more military
children and if you know achild of a wounded warrior, you
want to send them a link to thisblog.
They need to be on this blog inthis community, because that's
(17:15):
what it's turning into, which Ithink is really going to be the
heart of this organization andeventually I'd like to see it
become a nonprofit.
Azara Emami (17:26):
Yes.
Larry Zilliox (17:27):
And you know you guys will graduate, go to
college, get your MBAs and bethe you know the head of this
organization.
Nothing wrong with that.
And because this is so clearlyoverlooked, there's nobody else
out there like you guys doingthis, and that's why I'm so
(17:48):
happy that you came and sat downwith us today to record this,
to let everybody know that youknow these children are out
there and they need help andthey need to be able to connect
with their peers to say, likeyou said in the beginning,
you're not alone, that you knowmost of the wounded warriors
(18:12):
that get medically separated andleave the military have
families, and it's an adjustmentfor everybody and it's not like
a month or two after yourparent separates or that
everything is normal andeverything's integrated into the
community like everybody else.
(18:32):
And it's just not that way,because now your parents got to
find their way to navigatethrough civilian life and the
ups and downs of that, trying tofigure out a way to deal with
all the things that wereprovided for you in the military
, like a place to live and allsorts of things.
(18:53):
And so I'm fearful that in a lotof those cases, the struggle
just to integrate into thecommunity means that the
children and their needs areoften overlooked and if we can
get them connected with you guysso that they have a community
where they can Zoom in and youguys are doing like a weekly 7
(19:13):
pm Zoom and they're there to askquestions and say, geez, you
know what did you guys do whenyour parents got out?
Maybe you know you've got evenpeer mentors.
I think the sky's the limit foryou all and I'm just so excited
that you came and joined us.
What I'd like to do as we sortof wrap this up, is I'm going to
(19:35):
go to each of you and saywhat's the number one thing you
want our listeners to know about?
We Signed Up To.
Azara Emami (19:45):
I think what we want to be represented by, what
we want everybody to hear, isthat you are not alone and by
joining we Signed Up Tohopefully later on you will meet
these people that you can havelifelong friendships with, you
can grow with each other, youcan have ideas on how to react
(20:08):
when your parents are gettingangry, how to help your siblings
, how to be a better daughter,be a better son and just to have
a community and know that, likeI said, you're not alone.
Sinaiyah Emami (20:19):
I think for me, my one thing I want someone to
walk away from this and likefrom listening to this interview
is that we are in the same boatas you are.
Just because we started thisdoesn't mean that we're out of
like the hardship we're walkingthrough it daily.
(20:39):
I mean, like you said, it's nota oh, two months later we're
done.
You know we're out of thathardship.
It follows you Even when you'reout of the house.
This is your family.
You only get one of them, andso I think I want anyone who is
interested in checking out weSigned Up Too to know that we
understand and we are.
(21:00):
We're the same.
We understand, we've walkedthrough this and we just want to
be here to really bringfriendships and community and
just to connect with youhonestly.
Larry Zilliox (21:13):
Well, I think you're well on your way to doing
that and it's just amazing thework that you guys are doing.
And just to come up with thisidea and say I want to look
beyond myself and I want to sayI want to help people, other
kids that are going through thesame thing, and I can't think of
(21:34):
two better young ladies to dothis.
This is just, it's great.
Everybody needs to go towesigneduptocom and share that
with at least two or threepeople, send that link out to
everybody that you know andlet's get as many people signed
up on the mailing list aspossible and so that as new
(21:56):
programs come on board, asthere's a schedule for the Zooms
or there's just some newinformation, we want to be able
to share it as widely aspossible.
So I can't thank you enough forcoming out and sitting down and
talking to us about we SignedUp Too.
It's just, it's great.
Thank you so much.
Azara Emami (22:16):
Thank you for having us.
Thank you so much.
This was amazing.
Larry Zilliox (22:19):
Well for our listeners.
We'll have another episode nextMonday morning at 0500.
You can find us on yourfavorite podcast platform.
We're also on YouTube andWreaths Across America Radio, so
thanks for listening.
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