I am now at the stage in my family’s SNAP benefit cycle to where I am filing daily complaints with the state ombudsman about how it’s taken more than a month and a half for the state to process a simple, uncomplicated benefit renewal. I don’t know why you have to file daily complaints with the state ombudsman and threaten to litigate (through Legal Aid, as it would be in my case) to get them to do their jobs, and how they can manage to “respond” to you sending you a copied and pasted blurb not addressing any of your concerns in the time that could be spent actually processing these applications and renewals.

Every six months I have to do this so that my family retains SNAP benefits we are entitled to.

Every year I have to do this for my Medicaid, and I remind the state that they can not pursue child support.

So I got my engagement and wedding ring back from the vendor that recast the alloy in hopes that I could wear it for at least longer periods without my skin clearly exhibiting an allergic reaction that wasn’t mild.

When I got married to my oldest son’s father, we had already decided that we wouldn’t exchange rings, as not only would it not be fair to me since the severity of my allergy to metal alloy makes wearing jewelry… difficult, but he would far more easily be able to wear any of it than I would, and it just wasn’t something that he wanted to put me through. I had an engagement ring that was purchased before we had any idea of any of this, and it was just kept around in spite of the fact that it got to the point where I couldn’t wear it at all without my skin attempting to “reject” it, and the clear nail polish that the inside of it constantly had to be coated with to try and prevent that allergy was being done so much that it was starting to damage the inside of the ring itself. I wish I could find pictures of my old ring, or the damage that was eventually done to the inside of it, but I have none on hand, so… that’s life. I will be posting more pictures of my recast ring as I have the time and desire to, though, as well as pictures of the ring of mine that I’m getting with my late husband’s ashes once it crosses back over the pond and I have it made, as well as any residual ashes I’m being sent back because they weren’t required to make the ring! I sent over a bit more than the business might have needed, but I felt like it was a “better safe than sorry” situation because it takes two international stamps each time I want to send something like that overseas and my wallet is only so big.

Before I get too far in my victim impact… letter? Statement? I’ve asked the MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) advocate that has been working with me, especially as it relates to following of the case as the man who hit and killed him makes his way through the judicial system, if I can or will be able to read the letter to the judge or court myself, if a member of MADD in Kentucky will, or if it will simply be submitted to the judge and court system to read. I felt like asking this question was appropriate because we lived several states away from each other when the accident happened, and he was residing in Louisville, Kentucky when he was killed, within city limits no less. As it was, it took Texas months to be informed based off of his Social Security Number being reported as deceased to inform me that our son might presumptively be eligible for survivor’s benefits off of his father’s work record. I didn’t find out about any of this until February of 2024.

If I’m given the chance to read my victim impact (statement?) to the judge or court myself I’ll do it. I’m led to believe that this will probably be over Skype, Zoom, or whatever the court system uses since I live so far from Louisville. And the fact that this dude was not only drunk but high when he did what he did changed everything for me, because then it became more than just an extremely bad accident. He chose to get behind the wheel drunk, and he chose to get behind the wheel high, and had four open bottles of alcohol in his vehicle when law enforcement went through it afterward, which he was charged on all four counts for.