Help Sarah and Richie Return to Arizona

My name is Sarah and I made a huge and embarrassing mistake. I moved from Arizona, my home for the last 9 1/2 years. I was unable to overcome obstacles in the last few years, so I attempted to refocus them by giving them space to breathe in the hopes that clarity would follow. Self-preservation was at the top of my list. I didn't move to AZ to fix anything. I wanted freedom, wide open spaces and an education on desert life. I wanted to be a small fish in a big pond. But now I see more clearly, and the heart wants what the heart wants. And it wants the big sunrises and sunsets, the open roads, the camaraderie and the stories told by the people I love. The last 3 months in Philly have been difficult in a way I could not have foreseen. I couldn't leave my pup Richie behind, but he has complicated an already arduous task of starting from scratch. Even from the beginning, I felt I made the wrong decision bringing him, and the more time has passed, the more I miss my love and Richie, his dad. Rough patches aside, they write songs about this kind of love. I miss my dysfunctional and loving Arizona family!

Life in Philly is not what it used to be when I left in 2015. It's apocalyptic now. And Richie, who contracted SARDS in early April as I was packing, has not been able to relax with the constant noise, construction, and people. He has adapted to being totally blind, but the unfamiliar noise is just too much for him. Now we are both on anxiety meds; me for panic attacks and Richie for separation anxiety due to the SARDS. We even tried to move to the country for the summer to be in the quiet and work on a farm, but I wasn't informed that I moved onto a flood plain (I still haven't processed moving 4 times this summer). The water came into the 300-year-old farmhouse and was feet away from flooding the kitchen I meticulously cleaned and stocked. I have video, and it still frightens me watching it. Every time I think we are going to be okay, this city shows me the truth of life here. It makes me think of the reasons I moved to Arizona in the first place. Weather doesn't happen there. And the winters are perfect.

I didn't leave for the right reasons, but I will return for the right ones. I have made some poor choices, and we need a little help to make this happen. Donna, the Chevy, is just short of being packed.

For complete clarity, all donations will go towards gas, lodging, and making sure Donna gets us home. I am grateful for being able to reconnect with the people I love here, yet I am needed elsewhere, and we both, Richie and I, need to be somewhere familiar that we know and love.