TW: Loss, grief

Hi friends.

I write to you today with a heavy heart. For the last almost a year I have been mentoring a young woman, we'll call her T. She elected to enlist in the Navy, overcoming an almost homeless situation. A single mother to 2 girls, she worked as a CNA prior to enlisting. I was surprised to hear that the Navy had a program to provide child care while recruits complete their training, but I was so so grateful. She graduated boot camp in March. A few weeks ago she PCSed to San Diego to begin training as a medic, which is a perfect use for her skills.

Throughout the entire time I've known her, one of her daughters has been sick with a respiratory illness that required extra care, surgeries, tracheostomy, etc. Yesterday the unthinkable happened - her daughter entered a coma and never woke up. The treatments had been difficult, but this was very sudden. I can only imagine her grief and loneliness and my heart is breaking for her.

So now this new sailor and her remaining daughter are grieving and have to pay for a funeral, and her first paycheck just came this week, which will not come close to covering the cost.

Thank you for reading and for holding space for such a heavy topic, and if you would like to contribute to the funeral cost I know she would appreciate it in this trying time.