God is in the Rain

I'm Terry Holliday, and I'm asking for your help. If you donate to my GoFundMe, the proceeds will help pay for medical and other related expenses not reimbursed by the Victim's Assistance Fund. Your donations will also go towards hiring an attorney to defend me in a civil lawsuit where my brother is suing me.

I've never been good at asking for help for myself. I've raised thousands of dollars in my lifetime to help buy a service dog for a woman with cerebral palsy; to help pay medical bills for a man with brain cancer; to spay and neuter over 500 feral cats, and countless other projects. But never have I felt worthy of asking for help myself. And if I hadn't been brought to my knees by the circumstances in my life, I still probably wouldn't be able to ask.

I've been battling greed my entire life but never has my life been so close to ending because of it than on the night of April 6, 2022, during a severe thunderstorm, when an individual who we now believe intended to rob me attacked and stabbed me 13 times in the back, neck, throat, and chest, trying to kill me.

Fortunately, I fought him off long enough to knock the knife from his hand, leading him to run away, leaving me bloody from head to toe but with no phone signal and no one around to help me. I was very blessed to have been able to drive myself to the Emergency Room 40 minutes away, where the medical staff was able to provide treatment and save my life. On my way to the ER, I kept repeating the Serenity Prayer and "This is NOT how my story ends!"

 

At first, I thought I was handling the trauma well, but then the shock wore off, and I began having symptoms of PTSD, with nightmares and sudden fears in places I usually felt safe. I've had to start having weekly therapy sessions with my Psychologist (who no longer accepts insurance) to try to process the trauma and return to a healthy state of being.

 

On top of that, my big brother is suing me over the family farm we bought together from our uncles when our dad died and where I have lived with my five rescue dogs and four cats ever since. Even worse, my brother went behind my sister's and my back and got our mom who has mild Alzheimer's to sign her farm over to him and his wife and then moved her into his house in 2020 and won't let me see her. I have had to defend myself in the lawsuit against my brother because I haven't had the funds to hire an attorney, and now I have to hire one to fix what he's done with my mom's home.

IT'S JUST ALL TOO MUCH! Some days I want to pull the blankets over my head and shut out the world because it's too hard to think about everything I have to deal with. Unfortunately, I can't -- I have to keep going. I can't give up now. But I need your help.

 

Any funds above what is necessary for these two causes will be donated to the STAIR program in Greenbrier County, WV, where I have volunteered since 2012. STAIR stands for Start the Adventure In Reading. Second grade is a critical turning point in a child's educational development. Through second grade, children learn to read; after second grade, children read to learn. STAIR students are matched with a dedicated volunteer for weekly tutoring sessions. These one-on-one tutoring sessions are tailored to each student's ability. STAIR is offered to families at no charge. (from STAIR NOLA website ).

 

I appreciate your generosity.

 

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!