Five kids lost their mom when police say their dad stabbed and killed her.
Melissa Cowan’s sister is trying to raise the kids… all while dealing with the tragedy.
Tragedy shook their lives back on May 2nd, 2014.
FOX43 spoke with Melissa’s sister, Shelly, who says her sister was always about giving back to people.
Now, community members are returning that favor.
Born on the same day, just one year apart, Shelly Cowan grieves over her sister.
“I look at her pictures and I miss her, every picture has a story, and I remember everything about her,” says Shelly.
She remembers every memory, including the very last.
“Your sister, she didn’t make it and that was like the worst news of my life, I don’t remember seeing anything in that room. I was on the floor and I don’t know it was like it felt like my world was over,” says Shelly.
She says her family, including Melissa’s five young children will never fully recover.
“I mean anything I would’ve given my kidney, anything, but to just take her away, it hurt us so bad, it hurt us so bad,” says Shelly.
Shelly’s currently caring for Melissa’s kids, including two babies, as well as her own three kids.
It hasn’t been easy, but now the community is rallying behind the Cowan’s.
A fundraiser is planned to build the family a permanent home.
Shelly says she believes this fundraiser is a recognition of all Melissa’s good deeds.
“She was so generous and it seems like it’s all coming back, like everything she did for people, they’re now helping us like her children and it’s amazing,” says Shelly.
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