Today's Supply Crate update came from Brent, an Army Veteran who served in Iraq. Not only was Brent's service filled with traumatic events that felt like the norm for him, but after his service, he's dealt with some pretty hard stuff. Brent managed to get himself out of an abusive relationship and while he is doing better now because he's no longer in that relationship, he's having a tough time getting a new console for connecting with his children.
Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my story. I am a disabled Iraq war veteran. I struggle with many issues daily due to wear and tear on both my body and psyche. I deployed twice to Iraq as a heavy weapons gunner while serving as an Infantryman stationed at 101st ABN Div, 1st BCT, 2-327 Inf BN, Delta Co, NFS! I was introduced to Iraq quite proper, on my first day of missions in the fall of 2005. I did a fairly uneventful mission in the morning and on my second mission out I was hit with an IED. “Welcome to Iraq, you ok? Great, now return fire.” says my squad leader. I am hit with and addition 7 IEDs in my first year of deployment. I survive explosions, fire fights, and indirect fire that eventually becomes the norm for daily life for a little over a 2 years of my life. I survived two divorces and separation from my family, friends, and children. After two decades, I am now living near family again. I will finally see my children, which I currently live over 1000 miles away from due to their mother and I recently getting a divorce. Their mother has some mental health issues that nearly cost us everything I’d worked for, during our 10 years of marriage, including my own life, as she was drugging me to comply. I came off all VA medications and realized that I had been getting abuse for nearly our entire marriage. I am doing outstanding without all the chemicals flowing through me. I still struggle but I am now aware of the struggle. When my ex wife “helped” me with my medications I was on 43 medications per day. I went from 4 a day on my on watch to gradually adding more and more as she “helped” me. I walked downstairs at her parents house about 3 years ago and overheard her mother say “oh no, you can’t give him that much. That will kill him.” I stopped and listened for a while before continuing down the stairs to where they could hear and see me. I learned that her mother also drugs my ex father-in-law. So this is learned behavior. It is not acceptable and once I learned about it I had to speak with a mental health professional alone, without my wife (at the time) present. I was unsure how to do so as she was present at every medical appointment of mine, including mental health appointments. She was extremely controlling of every aspect of my life. So much so that I had to find a new mental health provider and see him in secret for the first session. He caught on rather quickly that there was more to me and my story than just being an Iraq war veteran. He helped me to get away from an abusive relationship. I wanted to make the marriage work but I was not safe. I had to get out. I tried for 2 years to get divorced. I was living in Iowa at the time which allows a divorce after a 90 day separation period. I was glad to hear this and thought 3 months won’t be so bad. After 2 years of court and losing everything I owned I realized it wasn’t at simple as a 90 day separation. Our judicial system refuses to take her physical and emotional abuse into account when dividing assets. This is including our children as they have been awarded to her and I receive visitation for 6 weeks in the summer and 5 days for winter break. It breaks my heart that I went from being able to see my kids and play video games with them after work and on the weekends to seeing them for very little of their life. Along with the award of half my retirement, my home, my camper, one of my personal bank accounts I used as a savings for my kids and 91% of my belongings, my ex wife keeps my kids away from me. My kids love me and want to live with me and I love them too. I would gladly spend every minute with them given the opportunity. Although, they want to live with me, I must obey the judge’s ruling. Until I can get more time with them, I must be grateful for the time I still have. With this time I play video games with my kids ages 7 and 9. We borrowed a PlayStation 4 from my niece’s boyfriend last summer but he need that back. This young man is a good guy and I hope he goes far in life. I used to play Nintendo switch with them, when we all lived together, as this was a way for me to deal with PTSD and TBI issues and connect with them at the same time. However, in the divorce my wife was given the house and everything in it including the televisions and all gaming systems and games that I acquired over 40 years of my life. Some gaming systems, like the Xbox I had in Iraq and the Nintendo I has as a child, were donated without asking if I would like them back or if our children would like them. So currently I am with out any gaming systems to play with my children or even to use on my own. My ex wife hated to see me happy and playing video games and thought it was childish but in reality it was a way for me to heal. I viewed gaming as therapy. I played games with my dad and sister as a child and when I played them as an adult it reminded me of the good moments in my childhood. Each month I pay child support and medical support out of my VA disability, as I am currently unable to return to work due to injuries and illness from my time in service, this is my only source of income. I previously worked as an engineer for John Deere for 9 years but my health took a turn for the worse; which is when my ex wife really ramped up and made life more difficult for me. After getting away from her and talking with mental health professionals and lawyers it became evident that this was done in hopes of cashing in on an insurance policy she’d taken out on me. I decided years ago that I love my kids, my family, my girlfriend and her daughter and all of my Veteran brothers sisters and want to live as long as I possibly can for them and myself. It turns out that the best way for me to do so, was to get away from the source of pain and destruction that was my unhealthy marriage. I no longer deal with physical or verbal abuse. I am no longer drugged or told that I should just kill myself, I no longer hear that I am hated, but rather that I am loved. I have a good relationship with a beautiful women that is kind and patient and understanding of my injuries. So here I am today 40 years old, disabled, twice divorced, in debt, and unable to hold down a steady job, but free finally. I am more free now than I have been in nearly 20 years. I can’t see my kids as often as I would like or talk to them as freely as I would like; however, I make the most of every moment that I do have with my kids. I wish that I could afford all the things I gave them for years but I can barely afford groceries and utilities let alone a gaming console and games to play with my children. This is why I am requesting your help with a supply crate of a console and games to play with my 7 and 9 year old. I thank you for this opportunity and hope that you will consider me and my children as recipients of a supply crate. Playing video games with my dad as a child is something that I still remember and hope that it is a lasting memory for my children as well. Thank you for your generosity and kindness towards all veterans of this program. I look forward to hearing from you. Respectfully, Brent
We're glad to hear that Brent has gotten away from that relationship and we truly hope he finds a way to thrive regardless. While a gaming console may not be very much in terms of all he has been through, we hope a new console will allow him to not only connect with his children, but give him some relaxation and carry his worries away while he plays.
Hi Ian,
I received the package and wanted to say thank you so much to Stack Up, and to AngryGinjaNinja!
My gamer tag is FireNinja20_22, my daughter is [REDACTED], and my son is [REDACTED]. My kids are all about ninjas and gaming. So receiving this from AngryGinjaNinja made it extra special to me and my kids. The during the school year my kids are mostly with their mom in Iowa which is a little over a 1000 miles from our home here in South Carolina. Thanks to Stack Up and AngryGinjaNinja we now have the ability to play using Nintendo switch online. This means that we can still play together whether we are in the same room or literally a thousand miles apart. This is something I could have only dreamed of doing when I was their age. Thank you so much for the Nintendo Switch, Fairy Tale A New Story and for a great looking shirt to wear while I play these.
I am honored to have been chosen as a recipient. My children and I immensely thank you!
Sincerely,
Brent and family
Thank you so much for the reply, Brent. We think it's really cool that the sponsor is a Ninja and that your family's gamertags all have Ninja in them. It was meant to be!
AngryGinjaNinja sponsored Brent's Supply Crate. AngryGinjaNinja has sponsored many Supply Crates over the years as he's supported Stack Up through not only fundraising but as a member of Stack Up's Stream Team. He also participated this year in our Call to Arms LIVE event as a representative of the Stream Team. He can be seen streaming on the StackUpDotOrg Twitch channel on Mondays, or on his own Twitch channel.
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