I grew up in Michigan and lived in Chicago for 15 years. My late husband and I met there 12 years ago. We then got married, had our daughter, Sloane, and maintained city life for two years before we were ready for a change. Matt was from San Diego, so was itching to get back to the West Coast. A job offer came from a company in Los Angeles, so we packed up and moved in 2017. I found out I was pregnant with our second child a week before we arrived in CA. We unexpectedly bought a 1950’s house and remodeled it for our family. We moved into the home in July of 2018 after our son, Max, was born. The house is everything we could’ve asked for—not big, not small, a great private backyard for the kids and close enough to the ocean that Matt could go surfing from time to time. In fact, it was surfing and his new job that brought him into Eddie Prosser’s life. He and Eddie were colleagues and enjoyed surfing together. They planned a trip to El Salvador to a “surf bungalow” type property that a friend of Eddie’s owns. Matt called me the morning they arrived, and I could hear the elation in his voice as he described the place. He was about to head out and catch his first wave.

Unfortunately, something went terribly wrong. A rare surfing accident occurred in which we will never truly know what happened. I flew down the following day as teams searched nearby caves for him. Luckily, he was found, and I was able to bring his ashes back home. Max was 15 months old, and Sloane was three-(3). The entire family was robbed of the happy future we should’ve had together. All my husband ever wanted was to be a dad and watch the kids grow.

I’m doing the best I know right now, emotionally, financially and as a parent. I don’t have any family here but do have the support of wonderful friends. As they say, it takes a village! We love the home my husband and I created for our family, and I hope we never have to leave here for financial reasons, but rather, when it’s a choice and the time is right.