For my baby

For the last year and a half I have been going through a difficult divorce. Through it all my focus has been on what’s best for my 6 year old daughter, Olive. Her Mother and I had finally figured out a way to work together when tragedy struck. On November 6th Olives mother passed away u expectedly in her sleep. What makes thing so much worse is that Olive found her mothers body. She had already been through so much and in an instant her life was thrown back into chaos.

The divorce had never been finalized but papers had been drawn up and agreed to. They were to go into effect on December 1st. Now, as if things weren’t difficult enough, Olives Grandparents are trying to get a judge to inforce the divorce papers. They want to take custody of my child...

Olive was traumatized by what she witnessed and is horrified of going back inside. It is imperative that she not be forced to face her mothers loss day after day. I only agreed to her living with her mother most of the time to avoid anymore costly fighting between us. The Ralston’s are a close knit family and I understand wanting to be close to all you physically have left of your daughter but this is not about their needs. I understand wanting to fulfill what you think were your daughters last wishes, but this is not about Renee’s needs either. This is about giving a little girl the best chance at overcoming the emotional turmoil that she is bound to face in the years to come. It is about her right to a peaceful and stress free future. It is about making sure she has a stable life with the only parent she has left.

I know times are tough for everyone but after spending my life savings on a divorce that never happened, new legal bills are piling up. Olive and I were lucky enough to be able to move in with my parents to save money or we would not be able to get by. Her grandparents are refusing to turn over Olives clothes, toys, and other personal effects. They are blocking me from getting her social security benefits and medical insurance by refusing to hive me her and her mothers social security numbers. This makes me 100% responsible for Olives counseling and Dr. bills. They are trying to push me into gibing in to their misguided wishes. I am at my breaking point so even though I am embarrassed to do so, I had to start this campaign. I am hoping to raise enough money to pay off what I currently owe my lawyers (plural) I am worried that we may soon loose our car as I am behind on payments. We will figure out how to handle our personal expenses but we can NOT loose this case! If you can afford to give even a few dollars we would be eternally grateful. If not then we ask only that you share this page with someone that can. We thank you all for your love, prayers, and moral support. With the help of friends and family we are going to get through this. Thank you for your time.