I continue to keep his urn somewhere on our desk, although I haven’t really made the strides that I’ve wanted to make with writing the victim impact statement that I’ve been given the opportunity to write. Kentucky hasn’t been as clear as I would have liked, or even like, them to be about where the perpetrator is at in the whole process of sentencing (other than “review”, what’s that?). This is almost all I have left of him.

I am eligible for survivor’s benefits off of my oldest son’s father’s work record owing to our son’s disabilities.

According to the Social Security Administration’s website, it honestly does look like I am entitled to benefits off of my oldest son’s father’s work record because I continue to care for our mutually shared, disabled child… and those disabilities are not going to go away or become any less disabling. It looks like I’ve actually been eligible this entire time, but my family’s initial claim for survivor’s benefits was not properly processed owing to the fact that we had not been married for more than ten years. Because our son is disabled, my age and the length of our marriage are not to be taken into consideration when determining my own eligibility for benefits off of his record, only the fact that we have a mutually shared child who is disabled who I provide care for and will continue to provide care for. This will come out in the wash at some point.