I’m starting this fundraiser for my sister and her family. Her husband is a veteran and they have two daughters. Please read her statement below:

This is a hard post to write. And my pride almost didn’t let me because some of this is embarrassing and I want to convince myself we will figure it out alone.

But I don’t think we can.

Sam and I were married 22 years this past February. This fall, we will have known each other for 30 years, since I was 12.

It’s been a tough few years for us. The stress of his military PTSD, his abuse as a child, our losses, and the stress of trying to navigate this all have taken a toll. The girls have been caught in the middle of a lot - which I hate.

We separated last year for a few months to try to work things out, and we’re separated again. Sam is in an intensive inpatient program about 9 hours away for PTSD and Anger Management. He’s finally talking about his childhood too. I’m in therapy still deciding what are our next steps.

We love each other. We were married young and have been through an awful lot - so the thought of not being together, not raising our girls the rest of the way side by side - kills me. But I also know things have to change.

He’s in treatment until the beginning of June. Our church was kind enough to pay for a month of his living somewhere else until he left. When he gets back, our therapist has recommended we stay apart for at least three months.

We have been in serious debt from the last separation. We’ve contacted every military organization we can to ask if they have any options. We’ve asked our congresswoman. No options since we own a home. We applied to the VA for me to be classified as a caregiver - and denied. We've cut expenses and I switched jobs to help pay this down.

If you know of anything, please tell us. We can afford to pay a small amount, just nothing crazy since we are paying off new and old debt. We want to make this work - for our girls and our future.