While I’m trying to keep some privacy for her and her daughter, it’s hard to describe what it’s been like to watch my best friend — one of the most patient, kindhearted people I know — be dragged through five years of false accusations, endless court filings, and emotional exhaustion. Out of respect, Lizzy stays silent about the details — but as someone who’s watched this unfold for years, I can’t stay silent anymore.

I’ve known Lizzy since 2017, back when we were both diving into woodworking in Nashville, TN. Over time, our friendship turned into family — and in 2019, we got a new tiny best friend: her daughter, Crew. I love that little girl like my own.

What Lizzy has endured since then is something you’d never imagine could happen in real life — the kind of story that feels like it could be part of a documentary exposing the cracks in family court.

What started as a necessary breakup and a mutually agreed plan to co-parent peacefully with her ex-husband has turned into years of betrayal, control, and litigation. Both parents had agreed to 50/50 custody and no child support — but instead of honoring that, he went behind her back and filed for sole custody and child support. That single act began a cycle of relentless court filings, threats, and hearings that have now cost Lizzy over $58,000 — just to keep what she already had and offered from the start.

That’s $58,000 that could have gone toward buying a home, growing her small business, or securing her daughter’s future — instead, it’s been spent defending herself from baseless claims and trying to protect her child’s stability.

She’s been falsely accused of drinking and driving, had police called on her during custody exchanges, was forced to take 14-panel drug tests, and even had her daughter wrongfully withheld for a month — missing Crew’s second birthday — while waiting for an emergency hearing just to see her again.

The defamation she’s endured is beyond belief. Out of respect for her privacy, I won’t share everything, but what’s been said and done to her would break most people. Through it all, Lizzy has shown an unbelievable amount of grace, restraint, and strength.

Lizzy left her situation in an agreed-upon move to Kansas City (something still being weaponized against her in court today) to rebuild her life and still allow for shared parenting time. She’s done everything she could with the information she had at the time — always acting in good faith, always putting her daughter first.

Her small business — built with her own hands, literally — has been her lifeline through it all. And while she may never fully recover what she’s lost, she’s still standing, still fighting, and still determined to rebuild the foundation she has left.

This GoFundMe is to help her do just that — to recover some of what’s been lost through more than five years of still ongoing litigation, and to finally take real steps toward peace and stability for her and her daughter.

If you’ve ever watched someone good do everything right and still have to keep defending themselves, please consider donating or sharing this. Lizzy has handled every challenge with strength, humility, and integrity. Now, she deserves a chance to rebuild her life — not in survival mode, but in peace.

My favorite part of the original judgment was what the court itself said about both parents:

"Respondent (Lizzy) is the parent more likely to allow the child frequent, continuing, and meaningful contact with the other parent. She is friendly, accommodating, compromising, and kind. Petitioner (child's father), on the other hand, showed himself to be rude, disrespectful, uncompromising, critical, and difficult to work with."

That statement still rings true today.