Recovery After Triple Tragedy
Donation protected
If you were drowning you would reach out your hand and hope with all your heart that someone would offer their hand to you. This is me reaching out my hand, not only for myself but for the man who has stuck by my side through the most surreal year of our fourteen year relationship together.
Let me begin by telling you that I understand that you work hard for your money, I work hard too and Blake? Blake never stops working. There was a time during the past year however, when working hard was not an option for me. You see, for many years my little brother had fought drug addiction and for many years I struggled watching my baby brother, friend and confidante slip away. Each hit he took, he would slip further from me until finally he slipped so far that the coroner showed up at the door. My heart shattered and I lost my self for what I thought would be forever. For eight long months we struggled on a single income while I struggled to rebuild myself. Never once during that time did Blake ask me to return to work, rather he worked harder. But those eight long months built up eight long months of debt.
I'm not certain what it was that woke me up after eight months, perhaps it was the realization of just how bleak our financial situation was or maybe it was my agreement to see a psychiatrist and admit to needing help tackling my grief. What I do know is that I got to my feet in time to begin another fight only this one couldn't be won.
In 2011 Blake and I had a house fire which was ruled by our landlord's insurance company as being caused by a fault with our water heater. Unfortunately our adjoining neighbor's insurance company believed that we were somehow negligent in causing the fire and sought compensation from us and the entire situation turned in to a financial nightmare. By the time my brother's funeral came around in 2014 we had already cleared out our savings with attorney fees for our own defense and things only worsened as the suit was refiled a second time prosecuting our landlord as well. This time the reason for seeking money became about something else entirely. Attorney fees continued to pile up as insurance companies discussed settlement figures. Ultimately the two insurance companies settled and Blake and I were tasked with contributing $8,500 to the settlement offer.
You may ask why we agreed to this if we did nothing wrong (and you'd be right to do so,) but in the end (as it always does) it comes down to who has the most money - and we didn't. Our options were $3000+ daily in lawyer fees (multiplied by three days+) to go to a jury trial or $8,500 to bring an end to a four year nightmare. Add $8,500 to our debt.
Then there is today...one week after the settlement and one night after a beautiful deer jumped in front of our car. Fortunately for the graceful creature she died instantaneously as the result of jumping on to the highway and fortunately for my little family, Blake is also unscathed. As a single car household though, we now face a $1,000 deductible to repair our Honda Accord which, as you can see is more than a little dented. Add $1,000 more to the total debt.
Thank You
So here I am hoping that the kindness of strangers will shine on my little family. We may just be a small family and at the moment we may have little to give, but someday we hope to make our own impact on the world. Blake aspires to own his own company, a company focussed on working with charities from all spectrums around the globe. As for me, I hope some day to write a book helping others to who work through the often unaddressed difficulties of sudden sibling loss.
Thank you for considering us and for any donations, thoughts or prayers you can offer us at this time.
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
― Maya Angelou
Let me begin by telling you that I understand that you work hard for your money, I work hard too and Blake? Blake never stops working. There was a time during the past year however, when working hard was not an option for me. You see, for many years my little brother had fought drug addiction and for many years I struggled watching my baby brother, friend and confidante slip away. Each hit he took, he would slip further from me until finally he slipped so far that the coroner showed up at the door. My heart shattered and I lost my self for what I thought would be forever. For eight long months we struggled on a single income while I struggled to rebuild myself. Never once during that time did Blake ask me to return to work, rather he worked harder. But those eight long months built up eight long months of debt.
I'm not certain what it was that woke me up after eight months, perhaps it was the realization of just how bleak our financial situation was or maybe it was my agreement to see a psychiatrist and admit to needing help tackling my grief. What I do know is that I got to my feet in time to begin another fight only this one couldn't be won.
In 2011 Blake and I had a house fire which was ruled by our landlord's insurance company as being caused by a fault with our water heater. Unfortunately our adjoining neighbor's insurance company believed that we were somehow negligent in causing the fire and sought compensation from us and the entire situation turned in to a financial nightmare. By the time my brother's funeral came around in 2014 we had already cleared out our savings with attorney fees for our own defense and things only worsened as the suit was refiled a second time prosecuting our landlord as well. This time the reason for seeking money became about something else entirely. Attorney fees continued to pile up as insurance companies discussed settlement figures. Ultimately the two insurance companies settled and Blake and I were tasked with contributing $8,500 to the settlement offer.
You may ask why we agreed to this if we did nothing wrong (and you'd be right to do so,) but in the end (as it always does) it comes down to who has the most money - and we didn't. Our options were $3000+ daily in lawyer fees (multiplied by three days+) to go to a jury trial or $8,500 to bring an end to a four year nightmare. Add $8,500 to our debt.
Then there is today...one week after the settlement and one night after a beautiful deer jumped in front of our car. Fortunately for the graceful creature she died instantaneously as the result of jumping on to the highway and fortunately for my little family, Blake is also unscathed. As a single car household though, we now face a $1,000 deductible to repair our Honda Accord which, as you can see is more than a little dented. Add $1,000 more to the total debt.
Thank You
So here I am hoping that the kindness of strangers will shine on my little family. We may just be a small family and at the moment we may have little to give, but someday we hope to make our own impact on the world. Blake aspires to own his own company, a company focussed on working with charities from all spectrums around the globe. As for me, I hope some day to write a book helping others to who work through the often unaddressed difficulties of sudden sibling loss.
Thank you for considering us and for any donations, thoughts or prayers you can offer us at this time.
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
― Maya Angelou
Organizer
Amy Brannan
Organizer
Raleigh, NC
