My name is Austin. Just a few nights ago, I lost the love of my life and the mother of my two children. Emilie was the most caring person I've ever met. She would care for every animal that wandered by our doorstep and was the best mom my daughters could ask for. She served in the Army and was a past Correctional Officer. Emilie was on her way to work like any other night, but a confused older driver entered the oncoming lane and collided with my wife. Thankfully, I was told she didn't experience any pain. However, our family is destroyed by the loss of such a sweet soul who was many years too young. To be completely honest, this all feels like a bad dream; the whole family is having a hard time getting a grip with this cruel truth. We all just wait for her to come home from work as if nothing happened.

My wife and I never planned for something like this because we never expected something to happen, especially not in the immediate future. We had the most basic car insurance policy to keep costs down. No life insurance to speak of. Unfortunately, we suffer from a mountain of debt built up during 2020 thanks to Covid-19, and we weren't a well-off family to begin with. We only had one car, which was completely destroyed. Our insurance won't pay for anything. While the other party was undoubtedly at fault, getting any information has not been easy. As much as I'd like to stop and grieve, I have two kids to care for, so I have to keep moving and stay strong for them. Unfortunately, I have no car; the insurance won't pay for a rental; I'm not even entirely sure if the other driver had insurance to get them to pay for me to have a rental. I certainly can't afford to pay for one out of pocket, and even if I could, it's a bandaid to the problem that now I need to purchase a new car I can't afford. On top of all this, I now need to pay for the funeral services for my wife. I honestly would trade all the money in the world to have her back, but being able to lighten the load on my shoulders is what I'll have to settle for...

Your donations are appreciated and will, first and foremost, go to funeral costs. Next, if that all manages to get paid for, I'll use some to get the cheapest running driving vehicle I can find to get back and forth to work so I can continue to provide for my children. Lastly, suppose somehow this manages to cover both those costs, and we go over the goal. In that case, I'd like to put away some for my daughters for college (and if they end up needing some kind of therapy from this), pay off debts to make the coming months easier, and donate to others who are experiencing something similar.