I escaped my violent abuser in the middle of the night, and was barely able to get out safely with my then, 2 year old little girl. A marriage and partnership that took 11 years to build, took only 1 night to destroy-- the fallout mushroomed so out of control that within a week’s time I had lost my home, my car, my job and most of my relationships. Most of my relationships, except for 1 very notable one with Pia and Vett Washington. They reached out to check on me and my daughter and to see if we needed anything. My mountain of suffering was insurmountable, and the trauma that we had endured caused a heightened sense of exhaustion, confusion, disassociation, and anxiety. Simply put, I didn’t know how to function. I didn’t know what help I needed, let alone how to ask for it! But even without the specific “ask,” they provided the support that my child and I desperately needed.
They obtained temporary housing, money, clothing and watched my daughter for me while I interviewed for new jobs, and when I eventually landed one of those interview and began working. My transition took time. And although our needs as a 2-person family changed with each season, The Washington’s love and care for us never did. As I reached each new milestone, whether it be renting my own apartment, landing a new job, getting a promotion, or attending my daughter’s Holiday Show, or Pre- School graduation, they always found a way to show up for us.
Words fall short to explain the amount of debt I feel to both Pia and Levett for all the ways that they supported me and my daughter during the most difficult time in my life. I will always carry a piece of them in my heart, and there they will stay forever and ever…