I never expected to be asking for money like this, but I also never expected to be widowed a week after my 33rd birthday.

Many of you know already, but for those who don’t, my wonderful partner of 5 and a half years, Jon, died unexpectedly early on the morning of April 14 in his sleep at age 31. I began CPR as soon as I realized something was wrong, and Anchorage Police and Fire responders were on scene within minutes, but none of the interventions made a difference. He hadn’t been doing too well lately, but we didn’t think anything immediately life-threatening was going on.

I’ve been struggling to process everything as I start to work through the grieving process, and one of the main things causing me stress has been worrying about how I’m going to afford to stay in our home. I’m 99% sure that I want to stay, at least for now, and I’m sure that’s what he would have wanted me to do.

Unfortunately, his insurance and retirement account beneficiaries were members of his blood family, and I was left out. I can’t afford to keep up with the mortgage on my own, so I plan to try to find someone to move into the guest room or his home office after a couple of months, once I’ve begun to process things.

Before I can do that, I’m going to need to learn how to be alone again, and while I’m doing that, I’m going to need some help to cover mortgage payments for a few months.

Every little bit helps, so if you can find it in your heart and you have the resources to help out, it would be deeply, deeply appreciated.

If you aren’t able to help out financially, then prayers (if you’re the praying type) or good vibes are also very welcome.

I wish it didn’t take such a tragedy to bring people together, but sometimes that’s what it takes.

Thank you so much!