Imagine meeting your husband when you were so young (14 I believe) and becoming best friends. That love blossomed and despite all odds you stayed together and grew together, or so you thought.

Imagine being a stay at home mom to 4 children and having so much love and such a huge heart that you also took in your Papa in his older years with dementia and cared tor him while raising 4 small children. And because you couldn’t bear seeing children suffer you also signed up to foster numerous kids despite the mental and emotional toll that raising 4 kids can put on you. You even took on a family of 4 kids because you knew what it was like to have 4 kids and if they ever needed help you would want someone to keep them together. It didn't matter that you were working and raising 4 other kids. These kids needed you.

Imagine spending 30 years putting all of your heart into raising beautiful humans and supporting your husband while he chased his dreams, no matter how crazy they were.

Now imagine that your world comes crashing down on you and the safe haven you built is so unsafe that you have to send foster kids back into the system and move across country with the other 3 kids that are still at home. You sell as much as you can very quickly. Just enough to be able to afford to leave. You pack those kids and that house and that life you built up in a Uhaul and you make a multiple day trek to another state where your kids will be safe. You get out. You are one of the survivors. One of the lucky ones. Only lucky looks like now finding 2 jobs and having just enough to survive. Lucky looks like being a single mom to 3 kids still at home and an economy that leaves even high income earners struggling to buy food. Lucky looks like having to tell a secret so big and shocking to your family and friends and the police that you think you’ll break. You don’t break though because your kids need you. You don’t break because you are a badass and you have a fight in you that you never knew you would need. Your husband is in jail, awaiting trial and will likely not be out for a very long time. He’s not who you thought he was and he’s not safe for your family and he will be of no help financially. He’s not even your husband anymore because there’s no way you want to be tied to a person like that. So you take on a new name, you pick up the pieces of your broken heart, and you keep moving. Because that’s what mothers do for their children.

This is my sister’s reality. She did and does everything she has to to keep her family afloat and safe and she has done it with so much grace and humility. My sister is the most selfless person I have ever met. She is hands down the best mom I have ever met. She is the mom that we all strive to be but she doesn’t see it. Family will continue to help as much as we can but we need some help supporting her. My brother set up a gofund me for a couple of large expenses that are just too much. My niece needs braces that her dental insurance will not completely cover and she needs drivers Ed and then a car. She has been taking public transportation and walking because my sister can’t always take her when she’s working constantly but that has proved to be an unsafe option. Please help me help her. Literally everything helps. Collectively we can make such a huge impact. Thank you!

(Story written by my sister Karen)