Hello all. I’ve been putting this off because it feels impossible to put into words, but my sister Holell has passed away unexpectedly. I am asking for donations to help her family pay for the expenses. I’m honestly at a loss for words. I feel so many things about her life and her death that I almost feel nothing.

My sister was ten years older than me, and my first memories of her were that she was bright, bold, and full of laughter. That laugh still resonates from the last time I saw her. But in between those moments, she lived a complicated life. She suffered from severe mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, and physical health issues that stemmed from an autoimmune disorder.

She died at home in our old house on the hill in MD, secluded with her cats, probably listening to the trains roll by. It’s where she wanted to be, away from everything. In fact, it had become common for us to hear nothing from her for weeks at a time during the winter. It had become something we knew we had to accept. And so, over the past two months, unbeknownst to us, her health deteriorated rapidly, as did her living conditions, leaving behind a situation that has been overwhelming to manage. It is my goal to keep this responsibility from falling to my mother or to my niece and nephew in the midst of the grief they are facing.

I was hesitant and nervous to start a GoFundMe, but we’re dealing with cleaning costs, funeral costs, and more that we simply aren’t prepared to handle. Any donations will help significantly with these expenses.