*TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions Assault*
Friends and family, I am writing to you and laying bare a very vulnerable wound so that some of you might be able to help me support my baby sissy and her son during this time.
A little over a week ago, I received a phone call at 4 o'clock in the morning. It was Kristin, who I knew would never wake me up for a non-emergency. Indeed it was; what happened next was a blur. I was the first person she reached out to just moments after the police had taken away her partner, who had assaulted her and nearly killed her twice within one incident, who was disrupted by a call to the police from some concerned neighbors. She walked me through the crime scene in her home, and what I saw turned my stomach (I work with severely injured patients every day. I've seen it all). Kristin, though, is remarkably resilient and has been nursing her poor body back to health since.
In the wake of this incident, there have been so many moving parts, and a growing list of needs that her single momma big sissy cannot meet alone. I have been waiting for her permission to disclose to you this report, and to ask you for your help in supporting her.
My sister had known her partner for two years before making the decision to cohabitate with him, thus vacating her own private dwelling. She invested much of what she had into the vision of a home for herself and her growing family. She had never experienced domestic violence before by the hand of this man, nor observed him to be a violent person. So now displaced, Kristin is sheltering with a friend in a remote location. The assailant is facing several felony charges in association with this incident and possibly many additional misdemeanors. Kristin is stuck between attempting to get back on her own feet while recovering from her injuries and being prepped for trial. Time and resources have already begun to grow critically thin. The most urgent need right now is vehicular expense, which will assure return to work when medically cleared, travel to the county where the crime occurred, and even sustenance while we wait for the charity and subsidized support to be processed fully (which is currently entangled in COVID understaffing limbo).
I am speaking only to those of you who have known such hard times, or similar ones. When down on your luck or in the midst of unanticipated crisis, you needed to lean on your village. The ones of you who have rebuilt themselves from ashes, and out of abundance in your hearts seek out opportunities to pay grace forward. I want you angels to be aware of such an opportunity--not for the sake of my sister, but for the sake of her 3-year-old son, who witnessed the entire event. Who since has lost his home and family, and is being cared for by a strong but battle-worn little momma who cannot do this part alone.
With all my heart, thank you.
--Kaitlyn