I'm looking for help to cover the $3k-$5k in legal fees to deal with the courts because I tried too hard to help a long-time friend get out of a bad situation and instead got sucked into a world of drama instead while the friend chose to stay right where she had wanted to get out.

My enticing backstory. Including too many details in order to perhaps tell the broader story of my emotional state and why I so easily fell into this mess. I'd never ask for financial help if it wasn't really needed.  #thebookcouldwriteitself

After a good run of a 24 year marriage and right before my respectable husband went to trial on charges of harming a 14 year old girl in our home while I was in Europe for work and to visit family, he was forced to admit that he'd had an ongoing "just for fun" affair with this same girl's mother. The mother happened (not by chance) to also be our son's best friend's mother. This woman ate in my home, borrowed clothes from my closet, and took all of my generosity while diddling my husband. And this "respectable husband" allowed this behavior while they both knew full well that I was completely in the dark.

The emotional trauma this caused me lasted 2.5 years while I dissolved into someone that barely resembled who I had been. Even with a strong and wide support team of family and friends, with a fantastic job working with internationally minded teens and families, I struggled to identify who I was supposed to be now that my life had been a lie for apparently many years. I had believed myself to be loved and looked forward to 26 more years with the man who was my partner. I had moments that I considered "ending it all", but knew through my soul that this person wasn't worth me leaving life ahead of schedule. So I stayed alive.

I emptied the home of nearly all contents, set up a plan to continue working my remote location job while traveling the state/country staying with people who I love and who love me. I signed the divorce papers on July 4th in Virginia Beach and commenced having a great life on the road, living out of my car while I traveled. #shelivesontheroad

In October I returned to Ohio to regroup supplies and say "see ya later" again before heading west for the biggest part of the planned journey. During this short visit home I ran into a girl who I'd loved since she was 8 years old. We can call her "Racheal". “R” was always such a smart girl, funny, creative, resourceful, beautiful, and kind. She joined me for an evening of hanging out and outside of her sharing some more disturbing news about my "respectable husband" we had fun. She had been living with a man who I had pleaded with her not to be involved with, and that blew up while we were together. My intention was to help get her belongings from this "man" (living at his mother's home with no employment but lots of big talk) so she could reset her life. So simply helping “R” one more time as I'd done throughout her adult life (gave her $1,000 for bills so she and her 3 boys wouldn't be homeless, so she could pay bills, bought her a carful of groceries, provided her with a safe place to stay...)

Instead, I'm facing charges of Aggravated Menacing and Aggravated Trespassing. For 5 months I've thought I had a lawyer to handle this thru one of the national gun owner insurance agencies, but when it came time to move forward because I'm unable to go back to my cool furloughed job for which I failed the background checks even though I'd been a top performing employee for 10+ years, this "professional" lawyer tells me that "talking to me was like talking to an ex girlfriend" because I was asking too many questions. So... lined up another lawyer who came highly recommended by my highly respected divorce lawyer, then filed for continued unemployment because I don't know that I can get another job at similar pay because of the legal issues.

Yes, I "brought this on to myself" by being a friend to someone who no longer values friendship. Over the past few years I've distanced from many people who simply could use their time to be part of others' lives because they and I had a different view of actual friendship. Racheal is someone that I should have continued to support from a distance. #lessonlearnedthehardway

There's so much more, but maybe you'll understand that I'm a good, loyal, hardworking, compassionate, structured, kind, fun, and loving woman being held back from my new life because I didn't listen to my gut, to my own advice, that night. I allowed my loyalty and my over confidence that this would be an easy task get in the way and now I have a court fight on my hands. While living out of my car (with the support of great friends and family for housing), while being unable to continue working and doing great things to help build more lifelong connections, while fighting the other law organization for poor legal counsel.

Anybody able to slip me a few bucks to help out should be repaid with positivity from the universe, but my universe has been on a real strange streak lately, so just like with life, there are no guarantees on that one. But I'll be grateful, and you can rest assured that I'll continue to "Be Kind: But Take No Shit" and pay your support forward to others. I'm just never getting so far into someone else's business that I end up in legal trouble again.