Help Reunite Felicia with Her Sons

As many of you likely already know, my life has changed radically over the past year and a big part of that has been the decision I made to move to Washington State. Originally, I had planned to lay down a foundation here for my husband and our two boys, Ronin and Oliver, to join me a few months later in the hopes that our family would find new opportunities and a more favorable economic situation than what California currently has to offer. Unfortunately, with our marriage having already been in dire straits lately, this upheaval only served to exacerbate deep rooted problems that had long existed between us and ultimately, I made the very difficult decision to end my marriage to him in the wake of this transition.

Unfortunately, this has left our boys in a bit of a state of limbo and their situation is only getting worse. For myself, I have been successful in securing a good job with benefits and my own place here in the Seattle area in just a few short months. I have been regularly sending as much money as I could manage to their father in an effort to maintain stability for the kids while we figure out next steps. However, it has recently become quite clear to me that these efforts have not been enough, and the kids' needs are simply not being met in any way. Their father has additionally proven many times over that he is going to be extremely uncooperative when it comes to making decisions about the kids. I have only been permitted one brief visit with them since leaving California, and even that visit he very nearly did not allow (I spent some time with them back in July, which is when the picture on this funding page was taken).

He has also been extremely opposed to the idea of letting them spend any significant amount of time with me up here in Washington, even for a holiday. It has become inevitable that I will have to involve the court system in order to have any chance of providing my kids with the kind of life they deserve, which is very likely going to be an expensive process. In addition, I was unable to see them for Thanksgiving, despite extraordinary efforts by some of my wonderful family members to facilitate that desire, due to a sudden nasty run of the flu at the last minute. As a result, the boys spent Thanksgiving in an unheated house and had PB&J for dinner, according to their dad. It is gut wrenching to me that this is how they will remember part of this holiday season, and it has become my most fervent, heartfelt desire to make up for that loss with an extraordinary Christmas this year. They will be out of school for several weeks and I desperately want them to be able to spend as much of that time here with me as possible.

I am reaching out to the people I know and trust the most and asking for help to make that dream a reality. I am anticipating some heavy expenses involved with transporting them up here from California, furnishing the bedroom I have set aside for them, and of course providing them with as much holiday cheer as possible while they are here! While I do have a decent job and am making a steady (if modest) income, the costs of moving last month have left me too financially strapped to provide any of that on my own right now.

Thus, I am humbly asking all of you for whatever financial contribution you can comfortably make, to help my boys experience the love, peace, and joy of a magical Christmas season with their mama. I am also hopeful that, given some time, they will find reasons to feel good about the idea of spending at least part of their lives here with me in Washington and come to see this place as their home, much as I already have. I have set the funding goal higher than what I expect to spend on holiday plans in anticipation of needing to take legal action to secure my parental rights. It is likely to be a complex, potentially lengthy process and I expect to need professional legal help to navigate the courts successfully. Thus, all proceeds from this funding effort which remain after holiday expenses will be spent on securing such help and beginning the process that will (hopefully) ultimately ensure that my kids end up with the parent who can best provide for them in the long term.

I truly appreciate all of you for even taking the time to read all this and am grateful to have so many wonderful people in my life who I can reach out to for help in times of need. Happy holidays to you all and best wishes for a happier New Year!

Sincerely,

Felicia R.