Help Kirsten After Her Mother's Suicide

On October 11, Rosmary Miller Aarthun died by suicide.

The tragedy was unforeseen by all close to her. Ros’ death hit her daughter, our friend Kirsten, especially hard. Kirsten was living with her mother for nearly a year after the death of her ex-husband and close friend, Jon. During the last 18 months of Jon's life, Kirsten was his caretaker, helping him through a long and painful bout with cancer.

Now, with Ros gone, Kirsten has been tasked with the sudden and tough responsibility of settling her mother's estate. In doing so, Kirsten has discovered some of her mother's financial liabilities, of which Kirsten had no previous knowledge.

Ros had taken out a reverse mortgage on her house a few years back. With Ros’ suicide, the mortgage is now due in full. In addition, Ros left a credit debt of more than $40,000, of which Kirsten was not informed.

This complication has put tremendous pressure on Kirsten to sell her home to pay off her mother's debts and find a new place to live within 10½ months.

Kirsten is currently unable to work after more than two years of caring for Jon, grieving his loss, and now Ros’ suicide. Ros’ sudden, unexpected death forces a traumatic shift in Kirsten’s life that we are committed to seeing her through.

We’re asking for help for Kirsten to meet monthly living expenses as she navigates through the fallout of this tragic and untenable situation.

We’re asking for enough to pay for Kirsten's everyday, common expenses, including the care of three pets, supporting Kirsten while she deals with her mother's estate and tries to recover from her grief.

The last two years have been tough on all of us. We’ve endured an incredible global crisis, and are hopefully nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. We, Kirsten’s close friends, know the grief and work that she’s done on top of the last two years’ events. We love her and want her to keep surviving.

We’ve heard Kirsten refer to her mom as her “rock” over the past couple of years. We can’t begin to comprehend how much Ros’ loss has overturned her foundation. We ask you to help her get through a time we hope nobody else has to experience.

Thank you for whatever help you can provide.

Paul & Kate Pearson

Stephanie Jollie

Jennifer Gulbin

Mat Peppard