I got a call from my twin sister, Kim, around 4:30 pm today, 11/11, that she was worried about her daughter, Hayden Grace, who is 11. She had been running a fever and throwing up for two days, and her fever had reached 104.3, and nothing was helping. My sister was having an extremely tough day, not only because Hayden was sick, but she was also having major financial difficulties, and that all punched her in the gut, all on the same day.

Let me explain her situation (although I will leave out a bit because she wouldn't want people to know how bad things really are). My twin sister has 3 children. The older two are grown and living their own lives (in their 30s and 20s), but her youngest, Hayden, is 11 years old. Hayden's biological father has never contributed anything (emotionally or financially) for Hayden. He has met Hayden once or twice when she was an infant and nothing else. My sister has raised her completely by herself since the day she was born. My sister was 42 when she found out she was pregnant, and it was a complete shock. She was under the impression she could never have any more children. I think back to my own situation when I had my girls, and I had help with feedings, baths, staying up with no sleep, help with homework, help taking care of them all—a joint effort. My girls always had a father to help with whatever they needed. My sister did and continues to do everything for Hayden, solely.

So when I got the call today, I offered to come pick them up and take them to Urgent Care. The doctor diagnosed Hayden with the stomach flu but wanted them to go to the ER because Hayden's white blood count was triple the normal number. We headed to the ER, and after 4 attempts to even get an IV in Hayden due to dehydration, the ER was finally able to draw blood and give her an IV of fluids. The hospital did a chest x-ray, a urine test, and a blood test. The test came back as pneumonia, but also the hospital was worried about her other lab results, and now Hayden has been admitted for possibly 2 to 3 days until the blood specimen comes back, and they are concerned about a blood infection as well as the pneumonia.

My sister is a real estate agent and has been for over 20 years. She loves being an agent. To help offset the unpredictable real estate market and not receiving a steady paycheck, she also works her butt off staging houses—2 to 3 houses a day most weeks, and she's amazing. Neither job offers health insurance, and now that Hayden has been hospitalized and my sister is sitting by her side, that means she doesn't get paid nor does she have the financial means for paying the medical bills. Not to mention the already grim financial situation she is in, I felt overwhelmed this evening driving back from the hospital at 12:30 am because my niece was admitted. I wish I had the means to help her out more, but I don't. Driving home, I kept thinking, how can I help her, what can I do because seeing my sister so distressed with so much anxiety on how she's going to keep a roof over herself and Hayden's head, food on the table, gas in her car to make it for her staging jobs, and the holidays just add even more, I decided to start a GoFundMe for her and Hayden to help pay for medical expenses. I pray and hope her family and friends that love Kimberly will reach out and help support her, especially in this time of need. Trust me, she's going to be upset with me for putting this out there because she isn't the type of person to ask for help (except from me, of course, because she knows I will do whatever it takes, until I can't, which breaks my heart that I can't).

It's now 2:30am after leaving the hospital and I'm here asking... whatever you feel in your heart to contribute to Kim and Hayden, I know they would be overjoyed by your thoughtfulness and love. I pray you consider.

If every friend or family gives only $1, it adds up quickly!