Life Update & Reflection

Hello Beautiful Soul,

I hope this finds you well. I am sharing a life update along with a reflection from my life right now.

First, I want to begin with an update about the passing of my 8-year-old great-niece. Some of you may already know, and some of you may be hearing this for the first time.

Almost one month ago, my great-niece Joey (Cadence Josephine Singley) tragically passed away in an accident involving an electric scooter.

Grief is moving through me in waves. Some moments I feel grounded and able to keep going, and other moments it hits me in ways that are really hard to put into words.

There has been so much love that has come through during this time, and I want to acknowledge and thank everyone who has shown up in every way possible. I raised over $30,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to support my niece and her family during this time, and I am deeply grateful for the messages, prayers, check-ins, energetic holding, and tangible support that has been offered in physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual ways. It has mattered more than I can say.

If you would like to revisit her story or see updates about the support that came through (public donations have been turned off), you can read more here:

Updates on Honoring Joey’s Bright Spirit Campaign

Or if you would like to watch Joey’s service, which I officiated, you can do so here. This service is filled with all of the emotions you can possibly imagine, including joy. Joey was a happy child and I made sure to honor her life as I held space for a room full of grieving humans, many of them children:

Read Joey’s Obituary and Watch Her Memorial Service

Now everything I do is for her, I continue to nanny, teach yoga and organize ecstatic dances because Joey would love it. Pictured above are a few moments from when I led Inner Child Yoga at Phases of the Moon Festival this past weekend, along with a plaque next to a blue hydrangea that has been planted in Joey’s honor and needs to be fed coffee in order to turn blue, otherwise it turns pink. I actually found that part kind of funny because Joey’s favorite color was blue and she hated pink. Life has a mysterious way of doing things like that, adding in a spark of humor even in the darkest nights.

I also want to share something about why I speak so openly about this.

For me, it helps me process. It helps me stay connected. It helps me be seen in what I am actually moving through instead of hiding away or going silent. I have found that when I try to carry things alone, they become heavier. When I can name what is real, I stay a little more human, more present, and more in relationship with the people around me.

Since this loss, I have been sitting with what it means to keep living, keep showing up, and keep serving in the middle of grief.

It keeps coming back to my love of children, both little littles and inner littles, and to breath, movement, community, and connection. It has also deepened my awareness around safety, education, and advocacy when it comes to e-bikes and e-scooters for children. I do not have everything figured out yet, but I do know I am not staying silent about it, and I will continue to step more fully into that space moving forward.

If anyone feels called to support that in any way, whether through ideas, connections, resources, or simply standing with me in it, please feel free to reach out.

Part of why I share Joey’s story is because I do not want her life to disappear into silence. I

do not want it to fade into something unspoken. I want her to be remembered, and I want something to come from this that helps protect other children in the future.

In the middle of all of this, I am still showing up in the way I know how. Creating spaces for people to come back into their bodies, to breathe, to move, to be in the moment, and to reconnect with something a little more alive inside themselves.

In a time that feels heavy in so many ways, I truly believe choosing authenticity, movement, community, breath, joy, and laughter together is not an escape. It is medicine.

Thank you for letting me share.

With love & gratitude,

~Veronica Carpenter, Yoga Therapist, Self-love Cheerleader, Earth Angel