Jo Ann Compton - $450,000.00
March 3, 2010 Dear Robin Hood 702: I wish my situation was different and I didn’t need help, but unfortunately I do. I’m not sure what to say that would make you want to help us. However I hope that what I am about to share with you will convince you to help my family. If ever anyone deserved a break in life it is my husband John and my daughter Cindy Kay They are the two most amazing, hard working people I know. There is a picture that hangs in my house. This picture is of a dragon leaning against a tree picking his teeth and on the ground around him there is pieces of a knights armor but no knight and in the capture it reads “Remember, No matter how hard you work, No matter how right you are…Sometimes the Dragon Wins. My husband gave me this picture right after our youngest child Laurie Ann was murdered to remind me how precious life is and that even when we do our best bad things can still happen. When I met Johnny in 1976, I was a single parent of two young children barely surviving on welfare. Three years later when he married me he not only became my husband he became a father to my children and for more then thirty years he has never let any of us down. To afford our first house, Johnny spent ten years working both day and night remodeling an old two story farm house only to have to sale it after he was finished because we could not bare to live there after our daughter Laurie Ann was murdered. For over twenty years he drove an old used pick up truck with out any heat or air conditioning so the girls and I would have better vehicles. There were times when he would have to wear several layers of clothing with a heavy parker over top of his clothes to keep from freezing when driving that old pick up truck and I’m sorry to say the summer months weren’t any easier on him. Even though he no longer has that truck the vehicles that replaced it is also an old used pick up truck. After a life time of hardships and disappointments we were finally enjoying the life Johnny had worked so hard to make for us when in June 2003 Johnny fall two-stories at work breaking his neck and his back along with injuries to his head, both his legs and his right arm. Thankfully though Johnny’s injuries did not cause him to be paralyzed they did leave him unable to do a lot of the things he once was able to do including his job as an electrician, so he had to take an early retirement. Unfortunately Johnny’s employer the US Government does not award compensation for broken necks and broken backs leaving us with only a small monthly pension that Johnny earn during his twenty seven years of employment. With the loss of income we had to sale our home. We thought buying a fixer upper in a state that didn’t tax Johnny’s retirement would help our situation. So we left all our family and friends to move to North Carolina. However things just got worse, that spring Johnny was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had to have surgery and radiation treatments as well as chemo. Thank goodness after four years the cancer is all gone but so is most of our savings. We have tried to improve our situation by selling our house here and moving back to Virginia but after two years our house remains on the market. We hope to get our money back out of the sale of our house so we can afford to move back to Virginia were we can be closer to our daughter Cindy Kay and our new grand daughter Mackenzie Rae. At least by living closer we can help with Mackenzie when they needed us. There is no one I am more proud of then our daughter Cindy Kay. Her determination and good well is something I have often admirer. I was sixteen the day I gave birth to Cindy, weighing 2pds, 9 oz; she survived even when the odds were against her. For the next seven years of her life we got by on state welfare and the charity of others. I’m ashamed to admit there were times when all we had to eat were a few slices of bread and a little mayonnaise but she never complained. After I met Johnny life wasn’t as difficult, but we still couldn’t afford a lot. Cindy was fourteen the summer she got her first job. She worked part time cleaning yards and cutting grass for a lawn care company. By the time she was a junior in high school she was working all the time. That year she paid for her first prom dress and her class ring. After graduating high school Cindy wanted to attend college. So she applied for financial aid but was denied because they said Johnny made to much money even though we told them we did not have the funds. She then applied for several grants, but was again denied because they said Johnny was just her step father. But that didn’t stop her, she went right out and got a second job and that fall she started classes. She couldn’t afford to continue her education but she did manage to complete two years. Then in 1988 our youngest daughter Laurie Ann was murdered, she had been missing for a month when her body was pulled from the near by river. We were told she had been stabbed seventeen times before someone discarded her body. Cindy was devastated over what had happen to her sister. For the longest time Cindy could not sleep with out a night light on in her bedroom. Even after 22 years Cindy still has issues over her sister’s death we all do. Cindy did eventually move on with her life by marrying her high school sweet heart but had to divorce him several years later. After Cindy lost her home and her marriage she gave up on love and the idea of having children. Then she met John and things were looking up for her. After a year of dating John asked her to marry him and that spring they were married. Cindy and John manage a marine together and both works 24/7, so they decided buying a condo would fit them perfectly. That October after they bought their two bedroom condo they learn she was pregnant. Everyone was excited, but concern because Cindy had been pregnant several times in the past but had miscarried. Now that Cindy was forty the likelihood of her carrying the baby to full term was very slim. Not to mention the health risk to her and the baby. It was a difficult pregnancy Cindy developed diabetes and high blood pressure but it was the preeclampsia that scared us the most. Preeclampsia is very dangers; many women have died having preeclampsia during pregnancy. So we were relieved when Cindy’s doctor decided to deliver Mackenzie Rae early by doing a c section. And thank God they are both doing well. It was a joyous occasion Mackenzie was born March 2008, actually 20 years after Laurie’s death in March 1988. Unfortunately Cindy developed problems from the c section and had to under go more surgery. Once Mackenzie was home they realized the condo was too small to raise a family. So they contacted a realtor to put their condo up for sale. However they soon discovered their condo was no longer worth what they had paid for it. They also learned that the land that had been part of their original deal was no longer theirs. And that their HOA now owns it. Since then their HOA has gone up several times and they have been unable to sale, modify or refinance their mortgage. To add to their situation their truck broke down so they had to buy another vehicle making things even harder on them. I don’t know how much my daughter owes she wouldn’t tell me, but what I do know is she is struggling to the point where they are thinking about filing bankruptcy. And there is nothing we can do to help because we are struggling ourselves. My family is living proof that bad things happen to good people as you can see by my letter. Thankfully however with your help that won’t be the case this time. If it’s not possible for you to help all of us I asked that you please help our daughter Cindy and her family? I look forward to hearing from you and pray you will chose us. Thank you Jo Ann & John Compton 4625 Lake Shore Rd N Denver NC 28037 704-489-9923 757-813-0813 Cindy John & Mackenzie Rae Kirchner 13426 Prince Andrew Trail Carrollton, VA 23314 757-745-7199 757-506-6515