This is my "SAD PANDA" story.

 Hey Brock,

Thought I would share this with you, I have ran this and follow up feelings since July 29th on my shops facebook  page, Having no daughters of my own I have a soft spot for the ones who appear lost or in need of some one who will listen and help without being demeaning.

 ~~Greg

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I Found out today one of my "Adopted Daughters" A Customer/Friend, committed suicide. I truly believe that after all she had been thru in her life, at least the parts I had become privy to, She is finally at Peace and in a better place.

So this young girl, 23? had the shittiest life on the planet, every one either used her, abused her, beat her or rented her out, including her "father", me in my way, saw a young girl who needed a break and gave it to her, I think it's called befriending or something. I first met her installing a baiid device in her "car" that she had apparently been living in to some extent and when you have to work on the interior of someone's vehicle you cant help but notice a lot of things, strip club referral cards, drug paraphernalia, and all the other poor life choices accessories that go with it. When she came to pick it up she literally had $170.00 in singles and quarters, so I asked her if that was all the money she had and she gave me a tilted head look and quietly said yeah, and I said well then lets call it a hundred even so you don't leave here broke. I got a long stare from that and a "are you sure" and said yes and left it at that.

Two months later when her first re-calibration was due she came to the shop and implied that she had no money but could pay the 20 dollars "another way" and I stopped her right there and told to to go outside and think about that for a minute and come back and try again, when she came back in I could tell she had cried on that one and she said she cant afford to pay me today but her unit will go into lockout if she doesn't get it done today and how she would miss work and get fired. I said why don’t you clean up the waiting room for me while I take care of that for you. Got that done and told her she was good to go and she broke down and cried and started telling me things I never would have imagined, like I was the first guy that didn't hit on her and the only one who ever had been nice to her, WOW! So that went on for a year. At one point she brought her aunt in for her car, coming all the way from Joliet because "he is so honest and so nice" her aunt thanked me more for looking out for Gabby than for fixing her car.

And a year later when removal time came I did it at no charge for her for making it thru a year without screwing it up, She told me she had taken a "real job" at a manufacturing company and spoke of a boy friend, however next time I saw her she looked like she just lost a prize fight after 12 rounds and was well on her way to being a mom, You ok? again crying and shaking and "yeah" "I'm ok" without looking me in the eye. I asked if she was still living with her aunt and suggested that she would be better off there if possible than with her "baby daddy","I can't have another abortion she told me. I have to do this.

Less than a year later the baby daddy ended it, he dui crashed and killed himself and the baby and with covid she was out of work and couldn't even strip to live so apparently she whored and drugged and then injected the big one to end it. Her aunt was nice enough to stop by and tell me. She said "she was sweet on you and thought you were a great person and spoke of you often, and how I concidered her one of my adopted daughters". She said they told her it was apparently not accidental as to the amount of heroin that she injected was over the top. This has touched me hard  and I will have this one my heart for a while.