Growing up in the middle of nowhere wasn’t the childhood dream. Being surrounded by cows, open fields, having the same 4 friends to play with put a damper on options as a child. As I grew older I started to recognize how amazing and lucky my life was. Being a sibling of 4 total I never even knew how lucky I was to have had such a close nit family in such an amazing place. After moving away to college I realized I longed for the front yard to play catch in with my older brothers, the forest of unforgiving trees that I use to climb with my little sister to escape the world, and how free and alive I felt in those moments. Reflecting back I wish I had not taken it for granted. Flash forward to April 2018, we lost our rock to the family, our mother, the woman that held all the bills and somehow always managed to keep us afloat on a maintenance man’s salary and my absolute BEST FRIEND. I was devastated. I spent a single month with her as she suffered, laid dying in a hospital bed. I will forever be grateful for that month even though I knew the pain she was in she never tried to show it. We talked about everything that I was too afraid to ask when I was younger and she answered truthfully. That last month with her I vowed that I would look after my dad, but not for too long because she didn’t want him to become dependent on me. I promised and she went to meet her savior on April 10, 2018. My father to say the least was a handful following my mother’s death but I did my absolute best trying to ensure I took care of him. He lost his leg shortly after she passed due to P.A.D. and because of his excessive drinking and smoking… As of last year, he lost his other leg. Don’t get me wrong, this man fought for his country, retired airman, and worked the remainder of his years before retiring. He was strong mentally and physically up until my mother passed. It pained me to see him like that. He is a loving man, a family man, a great father! As an admission of defeat I realized that I could not care for him the way I wanted. The house we grew up in was not a handicap accessible house, there was black mold in the basement because we could not figure out where the basement was leaking at for years, the house had not been maintained for a couple of decades. In a complete loss I called my older brother and his family to take my father where there would be more hands readily available for him. It was a hard fact to swallow. After all being 31 and failing your parent is something you never want to do. Now 37 years old and a single woman… I want to get back to the house where you could only hear the crickets at night laying in bed. Where I could hear the thunder roll across the mountains again and be at peace with my family. I’m asking for help. Though financially stable enough to take care of myself and my bills (and puppy) I have thee most horrendous credit score due to student loans and hospital bills for my father and mother and cannot afford to buy my family’s land and home, tear the existing house down due to the shape it is currently in and be able to build a new house that is handicap accessible for my father. If you can find it in your hearts to donate even just a little bit I know it will find it’s way back to you in other ways. I’m a firm believer in the saying, you get back what you put out into the world. And even just by reading this; I hope you and everyone you love will prosper. Thank you for reading.