My name is Candice, and I never thought I would have to write something like this. My heart is shattered, my son is trying to stay strong, and we are doing everything we can just to make it through each day.

My partner of seven years, Nick, died suddenly in a single-vehicle accident. He veered off the highway, struck a tree, and died on impact. They believe he had a seizure behind the wheel — something he couldn’t have predicted or controlled. One moment he was on his way home, and the next, our entire world was gone.

Nick was more than my partner. He was my best friend, my safe place, and the man who stepped up to raise my son as if he were his own. He was a fully disabled veteran who served two tours in Iraq, survived things most people will never understand, and still poured love, strength, and patience into our little family every single day. He didn’t deserve this. And my son and I were not prepared to lose the person who held our lives together.

Because we were not married, I wasn’t considered next of kin. I had no legal protections, and not even a day after he died, his adult daughter, her husband, and his sister came into my home and took everything he owned of value. They even tried to break into my home again to take Luna — his service dog who has been our family companion for seven years. His family also refused to give me any of his ashes, leaving us with nothing to hold onto, no keepsake, no closure. We weren’t just grieving… we were being stripped of the last pieces of him that we had left.

We are now left with nothing. No belongings, no stability, no ashes, and no way to stay in Oregon. After 13 years of building a life here, my son and I have to pack what little we have and move back to New Jersey to start over from zero. The ground and world we had was ripped out from underneath us. The emotional weight of this is unbearable. The financial weight is more than I can carry alone.

I am humbly asking for help — something that is incredibly difficult for me to do.

Every donation will help us with:

• Emergency travel and moving costs from Oregon to New Jersey

• Housing and basic necessities as we rebuild our lives

• Legal fees if needed

• Care for our service dog Luna, who is grieving too

• Giving my son some sense of stability after losing the man he considered a father

This has been a nightmare I can’t wake up from. I am trying to stay strong for my son, but we are overwhelmed, heartbroken, and starting from nothing. Any support — a donation, a share, or even a kind message — means more than I can ever express.

Thank you for seeing us, for caring, and for helping us take the first steps toward healing after losing the person who meant everything to us.

With love and gratitude,

Candice, Jesse, and Luna