Both sides of Colleen’s family arrived in Douglas County about 150 years ago, and she grew up in the Holy Cross Parish. Her mother, Marilyn, was a nurse at the old St. Joe’s Hospital and later at Bergan Mercy Hospital. Her father, Terry, worked at MUD and is a member of the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame. In 1984, they moved to Millard, she graduated from Millard North High School in 1989 and became a music major at UNO.

In her senior year in college she got married, and as she says, her real life began. She had four children. One was born with non-verbal autism and epilepsy. He was profoundly disabled and required constant care and attention, which she was honored to provide. He was the joy of her life until his death on September 21, 2015. Her other three children have grown to be remarkable young adults with great character and love in their hearts, but together, they endured more than their share of pain and sorrow.

“When you go through the raw and difficult challenges of raising a profoundly disabled child, it changes you,” says Colleen. She loved her art and music, but when your world hinges on life and death issues, interests become much more basic. She began to study news, history and politics, and became somewhat of an activist, though she prefers to look at it as just a mom trying to take care of her family.

You see, in those days, families like hers didn’t have many options or much help. So, she did what mothers do every day. She did her research, scraped away all the nonsense and got to work solving problems. She started by talking to State Senators and other families like hers. She got organized and gathered support, and after three years, LB254, the Nebraska Insurance Reform Bill, was enacted into law on January 1, 2015. It was one of the first health care reform bills of its kind in the country. For her efforts, she was honored by Autism Speaks with their national “Parent Advocate of the Year Award.”

Not surprising, she and her husband didn’t make it too far after Mattie died. So much of their lives had been spent just putting one foot in front of the other. On her own, medical bills, no job, bankruptcy and PTSD – it all finally became more than she could handle. She committed herself to a mental hospital for “rest.” With tears in her eyes, she says, “You can’t imagine how difficult it is to say that out loud, but I don’t feel any real shame. It’s more like a badge of honor that I even survived – many don’t.”

Since then, she’s rebuilt her life. In her words, she works for a fantastic company and absolutely loves it. She remarried a few years ago and together they keep tabs on their blended family and a rather large Anatolian Shepard named “Apollo.” She really loves her dog!