❤️ Help Angelina & Luna Get Home: A Journey Toward Healing, Family, and My Culinary Dreams

Sometimes life doesn't go the way you planned. Sometimes you have to ask for help finding your way back to yourself.

This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to write. I've spent much of my life being the person who takes care of others, pushes through difficult circumstances, and finds a way to keep going even when life gets overwhelming. Asking for help isn't easy for me, but right now, I need it.

I came to Texas believing I was building a life with someone who loved me. I trusted that relationship and the future I thought we were creating together. Instead, I've found myself dealing with emotional abuse, manipulation, isolation, and financial control. The experience has left me emotionally exhausted and struggling to find a way forward.

I'm not sharing this to seek revenge or invite judgment. I'm sharing it because it's part of why I need to leave Texas and return to Washington. I need the opportunity to regain my independence, reconnect with family, and begin rebuilding my life.

And I need to bring my little cat, Luna, with me. 🐾

My immediate goal is to raise $1,500 to help Luna and me get safely back to Washington, where I can stay with my mom temporarily while I work out the next chapter of my life.

But Washington isn't the end of my journey. It's the first step toward something that means more to me than I can adequately explain.

My uncle, the person who taught me how to cook and helped inspire my love of food, is currently on hospice in Hawaii. Knowing that his time may be limited has made me look at life differently. I don't want to keep putting my dreams off until some imaginary day when everything is perfect. I want to spend time with him while I still can.

I want to be there for him, learn whatever I can from him, share time together, and absorb the knowledge of someone who helped shape the person I am becoming. I want to continue pursuing my culinary education and work toward the dream of building my own food business. Cooking has always been about more than feeding people to me. It's a way to create, connect, comfort, and bring people together.

I hope to carry what my uncle has taught me into everything I do in the future. I want the things he passed down to me to live on through the food I make and the people I bring together around a table.

I also don't want him to face these final days feeling alone if I have the opportunity to be there with him.

Right now, though, I need help making the first leg of this journey possible. I don't have the financial resources to get myself and Luna out of Texas and back to Washington on my own. Once I'm there, I can regroup, make a realistic plan for Hawaii, and begin working toward the future I still believe I can build.

My fundraising goal is $1,500. Donations will go toward transportation, travel necessities, Luna's supplies, and the immediate essentials we'll need along the way. I'll make the most of every dollar and prioritize getting us safely to Washington.

I know everyone has their own struggles, and I would never ask anyone to give money they cannot afford. If you can contribute even a few dollars, I will be grateful beyond words. If donating isn't possible, sharing this fundraiser could help it reach someone who can.

I'm scared. I'm hurting. I'm trying to find my footing again. But I still have dreams, people I love, and a future I want to work toward.

I'm asking for help because I don't want the circumstances I'm in today to determine the rest of my life. I want the chance to go home, spend meaningful time with my family, learn from my uncle while I still have that opportunity, and continue becoming the cook and business owner I've dreamed of being.

Sometimes asking for help is the first step toward finding your way forward.

Please help Luna and me get home to Washington, so I can begin the journey toward Hawaii and the time with my uncle that I cannot get back once it's gone.

Thank you for reading my story, for sharing it if you can, and for helping me take this next step. Every donation and every share brings me a little closer to home, to family, and to a future I'm not ready to give up on.

With love and gratitude,

Angelina & Luna ❤️🐾