Support for Kitty Goldston in Her Time of Loss

Hello. As many of you know, our wonderful father, Robin Goldston passed away unexpectedly on 4/26/24 after suffering a massive stroke. We are all reeling from the loss and on top of that, our Mom, Kitty is having to navigate the stressful short- and long-term financial implications of his sudden death.

As she can only claim one social security benefit (vs. two when my Dad was alive), her income basically got cut in half, while her living expenses remain the same. Despite the fact that our Mom worked tirelessly as a social worker working with kids with developmental and behavioral issues, it was not the most lucrative line of work and our Dad always earned more money. That means his SS benefit check is higher. Our Mom is in the process of switching over to his higher benefit and giving up her own, but there's a significant delay in getting an appointment with the social security office in order to process that change.

Making matters worse, our Dad kept a separate savings account and when our Mom went to his bank to ask if she could use the account to pay for his cremation, instead of helping, they froze the account and would not give us any information about how much was in the account, when she might be able to access funds, etc. There's a lot of uncertainty right now and it's been one stressful thing after another for our poor Mom. We would really like to help relieve some of her financial stress so she can focus on grieving and not worry about needing to move away from her support community on Bainbridge Island.

As if the loss of her husband of 45 years wasn't enough, our Mom also lost her best friend of 30+ years to bladder cancer three weeks before that. She is processing the loss of the two most important people in her life and while we can't alleviate her pain, we're hoping that by raising some funds, it would at least take some of the financial pressure off and give her a bit of breathing room as she grieves.

We're asking for the support of our wonderful community in granting our Mom a bit of respite, so she has space to grieve the loss of her husband and best friend and can stay close to her local support network. As you can imagine, these losses have dramatically altered her life and more change (i.e. moving) is the last thing she needs to be worrying about.

Our Mom is a kind and generous soul who has given much to the local community—whether through her career in social work supporting kids and families in Kitsap County, working with the B.I. school district to better accommodate students with autism and other developmental issues, volunteering at the local public library, assisting with various tasks for the Bainbridge Rotary (in partnership with my Dad, the ever dedicated Rotarian), or one of her numerous other contributions since moving to Bainbridge way back in 1989.

She never asks for help for herself, but in this moment of hardship, she could really use the support of her community. If you find yourself in a position to help, please consider making a donation of any amount to support our wonderful, caring Mom in navigating this challenging new reality with as little financial stress as possible. All donations will go directly towards benefitting our Mom, with all funds sent to her bank account via direct deposit. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

For those who have reached out with words and acts of support, we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts, as we process this incomprehensible loss. We will be holding a memorial service for our Dad on 6/15/24, so feel free to leave a comment if you'd like to attend and we'll share the event details with you. Sending love to all.