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San Benito
March 28, 2024

‘Blossoms’ tells stories of special needs families

As a special education teacher for 18 years, Hollister resident Ramona Trevino knew she wanted to write a book about her experiences and the families involved.

She took it a big step further and ended up inviting families to take part in the storytelling itself for the self-published book “Blossoms of My Life” that is now available.

Trevino held a book signing, along with her co-authoring families, at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy on March 10 and has a launch party scheduled for Mars Hill Coffeehouse in Hollister on March 31 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“All of these students and parents have been a part of my career and part of who I am,” Trevino said. “I kind of just reached out to some families and I asked them, are you interested in sharing your story?”

Trevino said eight families said yes and shared their stories for the compilation book.

“They just started writing it. They all got immense healing from it,” she said. “Most of these kids are now in their 30s. They hadn’t thought about what they’ve been through all these years. It was an opportunity to rethink everything that has occurred in their lives.”

Seven of the eight families didn’t know their child would have special needs until birth, and recalled the involved emotions and journeys from that point on.

Trevino wrote the book’s introduction and closing.

“They wrote the stories. They gave them to me,” she said. “I hired an editor who helped me, and we just put them together.”

The entire process took about a year and two months. Some families had more to write than others, and Trevino allowed all the back-and-forth editing necessary to make the families feel comfortable.

There were a couple of Spanish-speaking parents as well, and so Trevino found someone to translate the book into Spanish, too.

Overall, the goal of the book is to “give families with special needs hope.”

As for the book title, Trevino said it came to her while at a book photo shoot. One photo was taken under a tree full of blossoms. When the photographer showed her that particular photo and its potential meaning, she broke into tears.

“As soon as I saw it, I knew,” said Trevino, who goes by I.M Dauntless as a pen name.

Trevino, who hosts a radio ministry on KKMC and the website imdauntless.org, said “blossoms” has a biblical meaning of rejuvenation.

In her own life and career, Trevino taught at San Benito High School until 2010 when she transferred to the Gilroy School District. She has a master’s degree in special education, focusing on moderate to severe cases, while she does the radio show and teaches a women’s group at New Life Fellowship in Hollister.

“Because I’m faith based, I definitely pray and seek God’s will in everything I write,” she said.

But it wasn’t just Trevino doing the writing. One of the co-authors, Susan Dommert Hilden, wrote about her son Tyler for a chapter in the book.

Hilden recalled when her good friend Trevino reached out to her and that it took about nine months for Hilden to finish the writing process, which included the co-authors like herself answering specific questions from Trevino.

“You’re taking yourself back 22 years,” Hilden said.

She said one of the most enjoyable parts of the experience has been meeting other parents of special-needs children. With the book, she noted how it’s not composed in a typical style.

“The nice thing is, the book reads very easy. It’s written by mothers. It’s not written by a professional author. It’s written by mothers with heart.”

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