Losing Sisters to Mental Health and Twin Loss

[00:00:00] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Hey guys, welcome back to the surviving siblings podcast. Today we have a really cool and unique episode. We have two sisters here today. We have Corey and Brittany. Guys, welcome to the show.
[00:00:14] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Thank you. We're excited to be here.
[00:00:17] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And it's an interesting episode because there's two of you here and you lost two sisters and the first sister that we're going to talk about today was actually your twin Brittany, Emily. So I'm going to hand it over to you guys. If you guys want to tell us kind of a little backstory about the four of you, tell us a little bit about your family dynamic, kind of how you grew up.
[00:00:40] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And then of course we'll, we'll talk about Your twin Ashley, and then we'll talk about your sister Emily that you lost afterwards. So let's dive into it. I'm gonna hand it over to you guys.
[00:00:52] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah, so I can start off and kind of go into the family background a little bit. So, grew up with [00:01:00] three sisters. It was us four girls. We're actually the A, B, C, D, E girls, which is kind of fun. It stood for Ashley, Brittany, Corey. My mom was Debbie and then my younger sister Emily with our last name being Fentress.
[00:01:13] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So yeah, we were all really close growing up. Being pretty close in age. My dad was a pilot. We grew up in a beautiful home in Colleyville, Texas, and we're very fortunate to be able to travel a lot with my dad being a pilot. And so I would say just in general, we had a really happy childhood.
[00:01:34] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So things. kind of a turn during our adolescent years. Emily was the youngest. So I would say she would was around eight and Ashley and Brittany were closer to, I guess, 13, 14 years old. This is when my parents divorced. And so it was kind of a difficult divorce and we all took it really hard.
[00:01:55] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Especially Ashley. And so that's when Ashley [00:02:00] turned to drugs and alcohol and ultimately dropped out of high school her freshman year after being involved with soccer. She was 1 of the star goalies on the high school soccer team, played select was really active and then just really withdrew herself from everything.
[00:02:19] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And like I said, got involved with drugs and Things really just took a dark turn for her from there. Lasting up until her early 20s she had really struggled with heroin abuse and had been in and out of several addiction rehab treatment centers and Also had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals several times with thoughts and of active suicide.
[00:02:48] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: She had thoughts of suicide. So she had been inpatient several times for treatment of that even leading up to a year. I'm sorry. A week before her [00:03:00] passing she was actually admitted inpatient to John Peter Smith hospital expressing thoughts of suicide. And so they admitted her, and I know they had given her a whole bunch of new medications and it was just a week later that we got the phone call that she had.
[00:03:18] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: past had taken her own life. So that kind of just brings us up to Ashley. I don't know if Brittany kind of wants to give her perspective or if you had any questions from there.
[00:03:31] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Brittany, we definitely want to hear your perspective on this because you're giving in the perspective as her twin. and I think it's You know, we're all siblings, and I come from four as well, so I definitely relate. I'm the oldest of four, so I can definitely relate to that aspect of the story, but I think it's interesting because you're, , a twin, and we've never had a twin on the show before and there's a lot of twins out there that have lost their Twin and that's an experience we always talk about , on the show and in [00:04:00] groups and tick talk in different places about how sibling loss isn't talked about enough, but then there's all these subcategories underneath it, right?
[00:04:06] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Like how you lost your sibling, suicide, homicide, addiction, different things, but then there's also these unique relationships like being a twin. So yeah, Brittany, I'd love to hear like , your perspective and your input on this as well.
[00:04:20] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah, sure. So, growing up as a twin , is very special. You know, you have this close, special bond , that's so strong. And I would imagine it's difficult to understand that, that bond, unless you are a twin you are connected to this person in so many ways. Ashley and I were fraternal twins. So we were not identical. We had a lot of the same interests but we were very different people. And she was born first. And she was an hour older than I was. And she would [00:05:00] always constantly let everyone know that she was the older one.
[00:05:04] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: That was my first question for you. I was like, and I'm sure everybody knew. Yeah,
[00:05:10] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: It's actually in Brittany's house. Yes, even the order we said their names. Yeah, so very particular about that. We played all the same sports growing up. We had the same love for the outdoors. We were very adventurous in spirit. Ashley was definitely more talented in arts and crafts on the soccer field, you know, she was an amazing goalkeeper and she taunted.
[00:05:39] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: The field players on the other team by keeping the soccer ball on the ground, waiting until the last minute to pick it up, like letting the other players thinking that they're going to be able to run up and score a goal, you know? Our first ice hockey game, she like [00:06:00] checked a guy. And got sent to the penalty box, the first game, like clearly going for the penalty and not the play, she was you know, just very fierce.
[00:06:11] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And that was her attitude. She was playful, you know? She was also, though, a much more sensitive person. She felt harder, you know? She loved harder. She felt harder. And I think that was, like One of her greatest strengths, but also one of like her biggest challenges.
[00:06:30] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And I will say with that, both her and Emily were diagnosed with ADHD as children. And I think with that just came this heightened emotional sensitivity where, you know, they just kind of perceived the world differently than the typical person.
[00:06:49] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: that makes, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And it sounds like you guys played a lot, like you, not just soccer, like you played hockey. You guys played a lot of the same sports, Brittany. So were you on a lot of teams together [00:07:00] too? It sounds like you guys were
[00:07:01] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah, I mean, we really were on a lot of teams together. , I do remember one year we played select soccer one year. She didn't make the same team that I did because the coach decided that, they wanted a goalie that could also play the field position. And I mean, she was always the goalie. And so at that point, my parents like decided that we were actually going to switch club teams that year. So we still continued to play on the same team. So yeah, we did play on a lot of the same teams. And I think it was actually sophomore year that she dropped out of high school. Right. So once she dropped out of high school sports fell to the wayside too.
[00:07:49] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And that's when 
[00:07:49] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Everything really kind of shifted. I will say also like part of being, , twin, there's this competitive nature to being a twin, not just with each other, but [00:08:00] it's just in life itself, like you're competing for, for love and affection and like the good grades and to get invited to the sleepover to make like the spot on the team Yeah.
[00:08:12] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: You know, people would pick favorites between us, and that really impacted, that had an impact on both of us, but more so Ashley. I do feel a level of guilt that things seem to come more easy and natural to me than her. I seem to have an easier time fitting into this mold. And following the crowd, doing what I was supposed to do, being like, this good soldier.
[00:08:40] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And following the orders, like following by, playing by the rules, and like making the good friends, like making good friends, knowing how to make the good friends, like making good grades in school. And, and she just had a more difficult time with that. If she didn't Want to do something the way that somebody expected her to do it like [00:09:00] she was gonna let it be known Like she colored outside of the lines.
[00:09:03] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah, she was definitely the rebel of the family or the scapegoat
[00:09:07] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Yeah. I think a lot of twins like that are listening to this episode are going to understand exactly what you're talking about, Brittany, because you're the same age, you're in the same class, you're going through life together. but then you have your own personalities, right?
[00:09:19] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And your own things. I'm curious, and this is a question for obviously both of you guys in your perspective. So things obviously really. took a turn when your parents got divorced and, you know, Ashley left school. So why do you think, and I'd love to hear both your perspectives on this, but Brittany, you're twins, right?
[00:09:40] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: It's almost you know, you walked out one door. There's this really famous quote that I used to talk about with my brother. He said, My brother and I are not twins, but we have the same exact birthday three years apart. And so it always felt like we had this twin thing going on. It's very weird. If you've ever seen pictures of him, we look exactly alike.
[00:09:56] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: It's very freaky. We had the same due date. We [00:10:00] both weighed the same and we were both two weeks late. It's very weird. Very, very weird. Very weird. Yeah. And if you're into that kind of stuff, I've actually had like spiritual people like tell me before, like he was your twin. And my mom used to joke, she used to be like, he was your twin.
[00:10:13] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: He just came three years late. And so I don't know, I'm open to it, whatever. But we still weren't twins. Like we, we didn't share the same womb at the same time. It wasn't the same experience, so I can get it, but not the same way. Right. So. Anyway, a little fun fact thrown in there. It's kind of come up twice this season.
[00:10:30] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: It's interesting, but I think it would be interesting to hear from both of you. What do you think was different with Ashley? You've already mentioned that she just felt things deeper. And I do find that people who struggle with drugs and alcohol, my brother was like this too. He struggled a lot.
[00:10:46] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: They might have this hard exterior, but they're actually super sensitive and they've got like really feeling kind of souls And you've already said that was kind of a differentiator between you and her britney But would love to hear from both of you Like what do you [00:11:00] think was different and like what hap and also a follow up to that is What happened to her after she left high school?
[00:11:08] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Like what was the trajectory because it sounds like it was just a real challenge obviously up until her death So i'd be curious to hear what both of you think about all that.
[00:11:16] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Sometimes it just feels like it's all a blur thinking back, but I can remember After high school, just things being really chaotic of her being in and out of drug rehab treatment centers and her doing really well for a little bit and us thinking, okay, she's in a good place and feeling really hopeful with that.
[00:11:43] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And then shortly after her using again and kind of going getting stuck in that cycle. So I know that I was in high school at the time and we were living primarily with my mom. My dad was basically [00:12:00] out of the picture. So with that my mom just had a lot on her plate and I think it was just Probably really difficult for her to be able to keep tabs on all of us.
[00:12:11] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And so I just know that she had a lot of free reign during that time. And I think she just really struggled. I know there, I remember there being times where she was homeless. And my mom getting phone calls like late at night of her being in the streets of Dallas and like having nothing on her.
[00:12:30] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I think she like called from a gas station or maybe even a pay phone or something. And so I remember going with her sometimes to like the middle of Dallas and picking her up off the streets. And it just kind of being crazy. Or like one time when I was in high school. She was experiencing thoughts of suicide and I remember my parents or I guess it was just my mom calling the police you know, asking for help, not really knowing what to do in that situation and the cops showing [00:13:00] up and I just remember her getting taken away in handcuffs.
[00:13:04] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And so it was just a lot of struggle for her, I think, it was just very difficult for her. Leading up to it was actually my 21st birthday. We all went out for drinks to one of the local bars. It was actually one of Brittany's and we were all together that night at my mom's. Emily was actually, I remember in rehab at the time because she was also had fallen into drugs at a very young age and struggled with substance abuse, pretty hardcore.
[00:13:34] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And so she was in rehab, but was able to check out just for a few hours that night to come spend birthday with me, which our birthdays are actually two days apart. So Ashley and Brittany were born December 2nd and I was born December 4th.
[00:13:47] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Oh, how wild. Yeah. So you guys are like all clumped together. Yeah.
[00:13:52] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: we would often just celebrate our birthdays together.
[00:13:55] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So that night, yeah, we all went out and kind of long story short, it [00:14:00] ended up being traumatic. Ashley's foot ended up getting run over and She had like major breaks in her foot. And so she ended up like in the hospital and had to have multiple surgeries. And that was like really difficult on her.
[00:14:17] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And then of course she got prescribed painkillers after that and had already struggled with opiates. She was taking painkillers, and I know that there was a time she got addicted to those, and my mom was taking care of her. But it was that year that she ended up passing away. And, and so, just to kind of like paint the picture, that it was just a lot of struggle.
[00:14:38] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah, I mean, she actually, when she went through that foot surgery, she actually denied the pain medicine. Okay. Okay. I guess I, she misremembered that. I think at that point in her life she was actually really trying to come off the drugs. I really do think at that point in her life she [00:15:00] had come off of the heroin.
[00:15:03] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I do remember, because I was there like at the hospital with her and through that, I remember, and my mom's I thought she was like doing really well, she like refused all the pain medications because she was so afraid to like, go back down that road that was scary for her.
[00:15:20] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And I think, and I believe, that she was just struggling more with some mental illness stuff. And more just the suicidal ideation stuff.
[00:15:31] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Right.
[00:15:32] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah, there's a lot. At this point, you know, in my relationship with her, There's You know, there just been so much, , back and forth stuff.
[00:15:42] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: It's like anytime, like there was so much tension in that relationship from all the chaos that had happened over time, over the years that it was hard to like, try try, it was hard to want to like, [00:16:00] Hang out with her at times. You know, luckily the day before she passed, you know, she was really persistent , on like us hanging out and had invited me to ride jet skis with her at grapevine lake.
[00:16:13] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And I'm so glad that I did. And we actually had a really good time. You know, but it was just, you never knew what version of her you were going to get. There was a lot of different sides of personality with her. You know, I mean, with or without the substances.
[00:16:32] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Well, I think,
[00:16:34] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: developed over years, I think.
[00:16:36] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: yeah, Brittany, I totally understand what both of you're saying. I don't know how much you know about my brother and my story, but my brother struggled with drugs, alcohol addiction, as I mentioned earlier, it's not how he died. He was murdered, but it was the same thing. And It was just a lot of self-medicating because there was a lot of mental health stuff going on with him and I, I knew for a really long time, and I talk about this in [00:17:00] my story, so not gonna repeat all of this for you guys, but I bring this up to say, I really understand what both you're talking about because it's interesting because you really love this person, your sibling, right?
[00:17:12] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: In your case, your sister. For me, my brother, but you want them to show up as like the person that you kind of remember growing up with and like the fun times and the good times. And it was kind of like Russian roulette for me. And I'm sure you guys can relate because it was like, what version am I going to get of Ashley or what?
[00:17:32] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And that's how it was for me with Andreas. It was just like, what version am I going to get? And when it was good, it was good. But when it was a bad one, it was not good. So good and that was really really difficult and I know there was a like now I can look back on it and just Have a lot of empathy for him and I did at the time too, but there's a different level after you lose them Right.
[00:17:49] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: It's like you look back and like you guys said there's guilt. There's regrets There's you know, but it is wonderful and beautiful that you had that that day with her so kind of [00:18:00] um Take me through, obviously, one of the, I'm sure, the most horrific days of your life. She has this wonderful day with you Brittany, and then, what, what happened exactly, if you want to share that with us with Ashley?
[00:18:14] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: , she was very, very persistent on wanting to hang out. I like almost didn't. But,, I did hang out with her. We rode, you know, jet skis at Grapevine Lake. We had an awesome time together. And then September 1st I had moved back in with my mom at the time.
[00:18:34] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So I was living with her and I, I woke up for work that morning and I'd actually, went downstairs to, to go outside to call for my cat. And as I did that I opened the door and called for my cat and , I saw A card from Grapevine Police Department fall out from the front door. [00:19:00] And it had a message for my mom saying, this is very urgent to please call this like sergeant or lieutenant or whatever.
[00:19:08] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And so I saw this card and I'm like, shit, I knew it was for this card. Ashley and, and you know, I almost threw, I wanted to throw the card in the trash because I knew it was going to ruin my mom's day. I thought that she like got into legal trouble again, you know?
[00:19:25] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So I put the card by the coffee maker because I knew my mom was going to be making coffee that morning and I went back upstairs to get ready for work. And so as I'm getting ready for work , I can start to hear my mom like on a phone downstairs and I hear her just scream and say like that's her twin.
[00:19:51] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And so I like run downstairs and my mom's on the phone with the Gray Fawn police and I just,
[00:19:58] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: at that point, I knew [00:20:00] I'm like, what happened? What happened? And, at that point, my mom's just you know, crying. And I knew yeah, that we lost Ashley and she's she's gone, , you know at that point like I actually went back upstairs to the to that room and went in the closet and I'm like trying to process this, you know that information like Calling my boss to call out of work And then call her boyfriend of you know where she was at to try and get information on what happened and he's just Balling and really, it doesn't tell me much, 
[00:20:37] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: well we go into this like this autopilot mode, right? Like you're kind of just like I mean, it's so bizarre in my own experience And I'm sure you look back at the same way both of you where it's like I thought to cause I did the same thing I thought okay call work call this person. It's like we go into this protective mode It's just so wild because most of the sibs that come on the show have the [00:21:00] same Same thing as you, Brittany.
[00:21:01] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: We're just calling, but then it's like also, we remember these things, but then it's also kind of like a fog, right? So,
[00:21:08] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah
[00:21:08] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: so when, so you're going through the motions with all of this. So when, are you guys going to the police station? What are you guys doing? And like, how do you find out how she passed?
[00:21:18] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Is that, does your mom come to you and tell you that? What happened after that?
[00:21:21] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I guess it was the same day that we've, we found out how she passed, but , it did take a few hours, I think, for that information to come out. Yeah, I'm almost trying to, I'm trying to think if the boyfriend, if he told me how she passed. I honestly can't. I don't exactly remember if I found out then, , or yeah, if it took a few hours.
[00:21:49] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: But, yeah, she took her life. So, yeah.
[00:21:55] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: So what, I mean, you just had this amazing day with her. So I'm sure that was [00:22:00] really, really
[00:22:01] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I really felt you know, there was some level of hope. And you always want to feel that, you always want to feel that things are gonna, get better. But yeah, we just had this awesome day. I even think after we hung out, like she even tried to invite me back over for dinner, that night, when like that, it happened.
[00:22:23] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And in the way that it happened, so Corey, Emily and my dad, you know, at the time were living out in Colorado. So they ended up flying back to Texas. Actually, dad was in Texas.
[00:22:36] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Is, is, this is why I love having both of you on because it's interesting how we remember things differently. It's, it's interesting, right? It's a point. It's what I tell people very often. I'm like, you know, I tell people this and it's a really good thing to bring up right now because it's interesting how we remember things.
[00:22:49] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: It's those things aren't that big of a deal, but we all remember things a little bit differently, right? It's, it's an interesting thing. Yeah, it's,
[00:22:55] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Just cause yeah,
[00:22:56] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: here. Yeah.
[00:22:57] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: a big part of my grief story is like how [00:23:00] I found out with my dad calling me while I was in Colorado with my sister Emily.
[00:23:06] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: So you guys, so you and Emily, who we're going to talk about in just a couple minutes, but you guys were in Colorado and so your dad, because we always talk about the call, that's like the big thing. I didn't realize when I put out my first episode that like everyone was going to be like, but it's because we all experience a call, right?
[00:23:23] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Which it's interesting, Brittany, because yours is so unique. Because I've heard some unique ones. This is a unique one. You have found a letter or a note, and then your mom made a call. So it's you know, it's an, but there's always a call involved, whether you're making it or hearing it or getting it.
[00:23:38] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And so Corey, you, your dad called you. That's how you found out about this.
[00:23:44] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yes. So my dad, he was living, we were all staying at our cabin and in Colorado is in a remote town of Colorado. And so we used to go out there for the summers, but I had chosen, you know, to go out And live for the year and stay with [00:24:00] Emily to get her out of the area because she had gotten into really bad drugs.
[00:24:04] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And so that was my way of trying to get Emily away from it all. She was a senior in high school and so. She was enrolled in school in the small town in Creed. And I was kind of like staying there and, and helping her out, you know, supporting her with that. And so my dad, he He had a place back here in Texas and he would go kind of back and forth, but he actually was getting ready to drive back to Texas that same morning.
[00:24:32] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So I get a phone call from him, like it woke me up. I wasn't even up yet. And he's just, Asking me where I am, what I'm doing, asking me if I'm near Emily and says, I need to get out of the room and says he needs to tell me something, but I have to be away from Emily. And I was still trying to wake up and I was like, what are you talking about?
[00:24:54] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And then he said, I know how you are. You need to get out of the room so I [00:25:00] can tell you something. And then I started to realize that something was wrong. And so I go to the garage and he. tells me that Ashley passed away last night. And to me, it was a huge shock. I had just talked to her the night before she had called me which we hadn't been in good contact.
[00:25:24] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And I happened to pick up the phone that night, just kind of like Brittany happened to, you know, talk to me. Say yes, going out with her. And we had a really good phone conversation and it left me feeling really hopeful and she kept repeating I love you and make sure you call me tomorrow, like you're going to call me tomorrow, right?
[00:25:45] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And it was just kind of weird. And I was like, well, she sounds really good. And she told me that she was clean. And she was feeling. the happiest that she had been. And so when I got that phone call in the morning, I was just [00:26:00] confused, shocked, of course. And suicide was not the first thing that came to my mind at all.
[00:26:08] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: My,
[00:26:08] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: that potentially she had overdosed or maybe had, 
[00:26:10] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: was, that was my first thought was it was an overdose. So whenever I found out afterwards what happened, it was. It was really difficult for me to comprehend that. I mean, it still is. I think it forever will be.
[00:26:25] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Of course, and this is one of, every season we have people that talk about losing a sibling by suicide because this is one of those losses where you're never going to have every question answered. And that is such a challenge. It's a real big challenge. That's why we do events and workshops on it, too, because it's a challenge.
[00:26:45] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: So, if she was not using, how did she pass, like, how did she die by suicide? What happened exactly?
[00:26:53] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So that night, I know for a fact she was drinking that night. She called me late that night and she [00:27:00] called my mom and she sounded intoxicated whenever she was talking to me, but more so I know when she talked to , my mom was the last person she spoke to as far as we know. And from what I remember being told, she was drinking and taking Xanax.
[00:27:18] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And So, her boyfriend at the time, I mean, whatever she was exposed to was not in the best interest, seeing as how she had just been in a psychiatric hospital with suicidal ideation a week prior. Yeah, Getting changed, whatever medications they had put her on or, you know, or any, whatever, right.
[00:27:37] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: We just don't feel like she was really like looked out for or cared for in the way that she needed. And I think we, as her family experienced a lot of guilt. And I'm sure, I think a lot of people like looked at us like, why weren't you there for her? And we tried. So hard so many times and I think it's just one of those struggles of where do you draw the line between [00:28:00] enabling and supporting that person and giving them the help that they need.
[00:28:04] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So it was just really difficult,
[00:28:06] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Yeah, I think so many people listening can understand where both of you and your whole family were coming from. I know I personally do, and it is hard because you want to help, but at the same point, You can lean into being in the enabler. I know I enabled my brother and then that stopped a long, long time ago.
[00:28:27] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: But then also sometimes like tough love doesn't really work either. So it's like the weird, like, where's the middle? What, where's the middle? And that's so hard because I think we all have advice and at the end of the day, I don't think anybody really has the answer and that's something that's really hard to there's, you know, because it has to kind of be that person's decision.
[00:28:47] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: That's the reality that I think we all come to, especially when we've lost our sibling. We're like, they had to decide, you know, and that's really tough.
[00:28:56] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I do, I think that she was blacked out, not [00:29:00] coherent, and just with what suicide is, it's just a very impulsive reaction to intolerable pain and so it's not something that was really thought through, although she clearly did think about it, maybe even that day, she had thought about that's what she wanted to do, which is maybe why she was acting the way.
[00:29:20] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: That she was , but still in the end yeah, I just, I think that it was just very impulsive.
[00:29:28] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: I want to make sure we have time to talk about Emily too, but I think this is, there's , so much happening with this loss. But Brittany, I want to ask you as the, obviously at both the sisters, it's a very difficult loss, but how, when you lost your, your twin, and I think this is something that's really important to talk about with twin loss.
[00:29:48] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: It's like, how. Did that make you feel? Because you've gone through your entire life with this person, right? Like you come into this world, okay, she was here an hour before. Okay, Ashley, we got you girl. Okay. You were here an hour [00:30:00] before, but I think it's an experience to come into this world with someone.
[00:30:04] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And I think it's a very unique experience and I think it's why twins have their own experience with twin loss. Did you, how did you feel? Did you feel like you lost half of you? I think we feel that as siblings but like I'm curious about your like your perspective about that because I think that's something that people really want to know about.
[00:30:25] I think it really took me years to kind of figure that out and to really process and deal with that loss. I was stuck in a lot of grief for a long time. I mean, it took me years alone just to get into counseling and to really start dealing with that. I lost a sense of myself. Yeah. And I, I didn't really feel it initially right away. I mean, I did, but I didn't really recognize it enough. I didn't deal with it in a healthy way for a while, [00:31:00] you know, I just really, yeah, kind of, lost myself. I mean, a month later, honestly, and I don't even know how I did it, but I like ran a half marathon and I went back and I got back , into college and I like finished.
[00:31:18] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Like my degree
[00:31:19] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: You were like busying
[00:31:20] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: like I pushed on but I also was like partying and like you know traveling and like I mean I was 23 years old , like I was pretty reckless but also driven and just like Living life to my fullest, thinking back on it now I really just did lose a huge piece of myself, , when I lost her.
[00:31:49] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: , it sounds like you said you're living life to the fullest, but like you're doing so much and like sometimes that's how we cope with loss. Like we throw ourselves into whether it's work, school, sports, physical activities, [00:32:00] like that's not an uncommon thing. I'm curious though, cause you said that you ended up going to therapy.
[00:32:04] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: How long did it take you to do, to go into therapy? Because we've talked about this a lot with other sibs that have come on the show and sometimes people are like, they go right away. Some people it takes them years, some people it takes them decades. So I'm curious when you decided to engage in that, and then was there like something that happened or maybe something that clicked for you?
[00:32:24] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Did the shock wear off? Did something happen? Cause I think that's helpful to share that for,
[00:32:29] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So, yeah, it took me multiple years. And really, I went back to school. I finished school once I got done with college. So I got done with school 2012. And then and then I moved out to Colorado. And just was like, living life out in Colorado, like being in nature, being in the mountains, like camping, hiking, bartending working like seasonal work up at [00:33:00] the mountain resort in the winter time, when I left there.
[00:33:04] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I ended up getting a job at a wilderness boarding school. And I was working with troubled youth. Cause I was very passionate about wanting to help people. When I started doing that, Then I like started like getting more focused on okay, like it's time for me to get into counseling.
[00:33:26] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And so it took me a while to really get there. Yeah,
[00:33:30] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: I think that's a super positive message. Yeah, I think that's a positive message though, because I think sometimes people think, Oh my God, this just happened. I have to do this. It's a journey. Like everybody's journey looks different. And I think I think it's interesting that when you started working with these kids that may be reminded you a little bit of your sister just saying.
[00:33:52] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Absolutely. Absolutely.
[00:33:54] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Right? Yeah. Yeah. So I was curious about that. So yeah, thanks for[00:34:00] 
[00:34:00] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: that whole experience while I was working there, I was like, man if Ashley could have had an experience like this, you know, just who knows, you know, it was, it was pretty eye opening. Yeah, it was an amazing experience. Yeah.
[00:34:13] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Yeah. So that was a moment for you and it's, I can relate to that too, cause specific things have come up for me on my journey and it's inspired me to do different things, but then also say Oh, maybe I'm not a hundred percent and it kind of turns the spotlight back on you. So it's interesting that was , kind of your moment for that.
[00:34:31] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Yeah. So obviously, you guys lost Ashley in 2009, but unfortunately you lost Emily as well in 2020, which was just a tough year for everyone in general., walk us through like the progression. So you lost Ashley. That was horrific, of course, but then you lose Emily. So tell us a little bit about that part of your loss journey.
[00:34:54] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Emily had struggled on and off with substance abuse since [00:35:00] early on in her adolescence. So similar to Ashley's story, she was in and out of a lot of drug rehab treatment centers and I think it was just, again, a combination of mental health and unprocessed grief. She did experience some significant losses.
[00:35:19] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: One of her first losses being a boyfriend that she had been using with. She woke up to him passed in the morning from an overdose. And I know that always really had a big effect on her. Fast forwarding to Just, I guess, two or three years before she passed her husband ended up passing away due to sepsis.
[00:35:46] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And that's what really Hit her the hardest. So she really struggled with that loss. She became clean for a while a good while, and we all felt really hopeful. She was the best that we had ever [00:36:00] seen her. She was a big part of my son's life, and she really loved being an aunt to him.
[00:36:06] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And Then, unfortunately, I think we just started to see some of the signs again, which she was always really good about hiding. So sometimes she would be using for months and we wouldn't figure it out until after the fact. It was hard to catch at times. But this particular time, I remember she was watching my house whenever I was gone on a trip to Colorado and I came back and.
[00:36:32] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Had found like my house in disarray and ended up finding some like Heroin needles that had been used. So it was pretty obvious that like she was back to using again. And then, you know, from there, it just kind of went downhill and we really tried to get her away from the crowd that she was using with.
[00:36:54] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: But I think she just knew too many people in this area. And I was going through a really difficult [00:37:00] time. I was married at the time. And so I was having a hard time being able to support her in the way that she needed. And my mom wasn't in a place where she could support her any longer just because Emily's behaviors with using drugs became very dangerous.
[00:37:17] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And she like had even become like aggressive and even like violent at times. It just. blacked out on drugs, not the Emily that we knew. So it just was no longer safe for her to be able to stay at my mom's house. So talked with Brittany and we came up with a plan for Emily to move to where Brittany was living in Virginia.
[00:37:44] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So going from Texas to Virginia. And Brittany had the resources, you know, working for, The mental health agency. Yeah. Community service. Yeah. Community service board. And so she had the resources to basically be able [00:38:00] to give Emily the help that she needed to get treatment for her substance use and her mental health.
[00:38:06] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And get her away from this area, which She was in and out of jail here. She was in and out of rehab treatment centers here. And it was just always the same story. She would always connect back with the people that who would give her drugs. And so we felt like this was like our ray of hope for her to get her out of the area.
[00:38:25] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So that's what we did. I basically got her on a plane, got her to the airport, which was really difficult to do in itself with her like actively using. I actually, the last night I saw her had to set her up in a tent in my backyard. And then get her to the airport that next morning, got her on the plane, sent to Virginia and then Brittany can kind of take over from there.
[00:38:53] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah, so yeah, so she comes to Virginia and is still pretty much still [00:39:00] high when she arrives. So she was a mess when I got her. And you know, just try getting her into treatment and linking her to services. It was just a constant battle. She would agree, to go into a treatment.
[00:39:18] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I'd get her in somewhere. She'd come out and be staying with me with like I'd have to, I was still working at the time. So I'd go to work during the day. She was like finding people online to meet up with and she'd do this disappearing act. Go and use, and then I'd have to track her down.
[00:39:40] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And it was like, like a repetitive pattern of trying to get her back into rehabs and then her not wanting to go and then like hospital trips and then getting her ECO'd emergency custody order through the magistrate , and then, hopefully they grant the TDO to get her like into [00:40:00] inpatient, towards treatment.
[00:40:02] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And it was just this whole process. I remember You know, we're driving up to Pennsylvania to get her into a halfway half house at one point after, her rehab stay from this one place and we get all the way up there to this halfway house. And we're driving through these streets, and she's That guy's selling, that guy's selling I don't like this neighborhood, I don't feel safe here please don't leave me here, type thing.
[00:40:32] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And I'm like, thanks for being honest with me of course, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna leave her there, It was really hard. I wanted to take this on. I really wanted to help her. It was really hard. She was really sick. And even when she wasn't using, she was having auditory , and like visual hallucinations.
[00:40:53] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And I, even if it was like side effects from like not using, I really couldn't tell it really looked a [00:41:00] lot like schizophrenia. I don't know, and she wasn't really. Very heavily participating in the mental health supports. As much as I wished and hoped that she, would be and it's tough with somebody that's so, that has such a prevalent history with using, you know, it's like, where do people really get the help with.
[00:41:26] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: The mental health versus the using because like when when every time we'd go to the hospitals, you know I mean just to get an IV in her arm was Terrible it was awful. I mean the nurses would have to bring in like the whole What is it not the x ray, but they'd have to search for the veins in her arms because they're all blown out, you know what I mean?
[00:41:49] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Just to get an IV in there.
[00:41:51] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: It was terrible.
[00:41:53] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So, she suffered a lot. A lot. 
[00:41:55] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: I think what's interesting about all of this too is [00:42:00] that you know, this is what grief does to us, right? I mean, Emily had a lot of, like you said earlier, Corey, like she had a lot of pain, a lot of loss and like people deal with it in different ways. Unfortunately she was dealing with it in some really unhealthy ways.
[00:42:12] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And like heroin is no joke. Like these are not like light drugs that your sisters were using. Like this is very serious. And what I think is very interesting about. Your story Brittany in this is that your life has just continued to like evolve in this mental health kind of Helping you know role which I think is interesting but I also think it's interesting the connection between the two of you Cory and Brittany because You guys were trying to help Emily, you know, and always helping your sisters.
[00:42:41] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: I think that's very interesting. I just wanted to kind of point that out in the story and like the bond that the two of you clearly have, I think is really, it's really beautiful. I've just noticed it in the times we've chatted. So I, I think it's interesting, but I also want to go back to what you were saying too, Brittany, about just it's a lot, and you know, we talked about this with [00:43:00] Ashley as well, dealing with people, and we're talking about siblings here, who are active in addiction, it's just really tough, and you bring up a really good point that like, How do you even get them the mental health help that they need because they're so fixated on being high, right?
[00:43:17] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Or, you know, and this is if you're drinking or if you're on drugs or like whatever your addiction is we can't even start to peel back the layers of what is really going on and what we're trying to numb because we're just trying to get you sober. We're just trying to help you live.
[00:43:30] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: That's like a full time gig. 
[00:43:31] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah.
[00:43:32] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: that's intense. So take us to 2020. So is she living with you, Brittany or Corey? Is she back in Texas? What ends up happening and how unfortunately did we lose Emily?
[00:43:44] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: she's living with me. She was with me not quite a year. I had been living by myself in a place and had moved in with some roommates. And [00:44:00] she had moved with me into the house with roommates. And We all worked and so there was a point in time in which you know we were all at work, and she will had started to bring people over to the house And that created a problem for the people that owns the house So so she was no longer like able to stay there.
[00:44:26] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: There the deal was like, go to rehab or you can't be here. And she chose to not be there. So she had, met this boyfriend and she was kinda staying with him wherever they were staying. So she was out of the house.
[00:44:44] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And I was coming back from like a trip in Roanoke and Got a phone call from the boyfriend that , they found her, deceased. And they had just called like the [00:45:00] paramedics and I was like, wait, are you sure? Are the paramedics on the, on the way? I'm just no, this can't be happening so immediately my thought is oh my God, like, how am I going to make this phone call to mom and Corey,
[00:45:13] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: But you did. Yeah, but you did. Yeah. So she, I mean, obviously this boyfriend was not good news either. So again, if you get anything out of these episodes, guys, you know, people who you're with influence you a lot, right? We know.
[00:45:30] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I say that to my clients all the time. Yeah.
[00:45:34] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Yeah. I think it's, I think it's interesting. And I want to talk about that too, Corey, because I think it's interesting. Both of you work in the space of mental health, like in this I think that's really fascinating really fascinating, and I'm going to get to that in just a moment before we close out.
[00:45:47] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Emily obviously passed away, and was she, so she was using again, and was it heroin? Is that how she passed? Or do we know?
[00:45:56] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Well, no, we think she was [00:46:00] using a combination of crystal meth and heroin at the end. But honestly, I think it was more crystal meth and I think that's what was causing some of the hallucinations and or delusions and extreme paranoia, because she would call me. And demand for me to take a picture of me and my son just to make sure that we were okay and was really worried, I guess, having hallucinations of something horrible happening to me and my mom.
[00:46:30] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And so one time she had even called the police and had the police show up at her house to make sure we were okay. So there was definitely just a lot of paranoia. So I think like Brittany kind of said, like she was suffering. Big time and was not in her right mind. And so she ended up taking her own life as well Yeah
[00:46:51] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: so both of your sisters, yeah, I thought we had talked about that maybe briefly, Corey, in your, when we first connected in your intake, but so it's like you lost [00:47:00] both of your sisters to addiction.
[00:47:02] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: You also lost him by suicide, which is it's like double for you guys, like not just double sisters, but like double.
[00:47:09] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And that's really tough. That's really tough. I relate in a different way because I feel like I lost my brother to addiction in a lot of ways. Cause his choices were just really bad. The people he was hanging out with were horrible and they killed him, you know? And so it's this double thing.
[00:47:22] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And I don't know if everybody can relate to that, but. Those of you who are listening to this that went through something like that, I think it's, every loss is just, you know, black and white. It's not, and I feel like both of your losses, both of your sisters, it's, there's a lot that happened around addiction, but also losing by suicide is just, A lot of unanswered questions, too, but it feels and you guys tell me because you experienced this, it feels like with Emily, though, it was a little more clear that she was really struggling.
[00:47:52] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: I think with Ashley, it was kind of an interesting theme because, Brittany, you had this beautiful decor, you had this [00:48:00] beautiful conversation, and then you're like, What just happened? And it's not that one is worse than the other. It's just that feels like that was like, 180, right? from where she was maybe going.
[00:48:12] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And the hope that you felt. And then with Emily, Brittany, you being there and watching it and everything that happened, but both of you knew she was struggling from, all these, you know, the hallucinations and then this happened. So it's interesting the two losses and the different things that were going on, but it kind of feels like , that was how you experienced it.
[00:48:31] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah, I mean I will say that emily did Come out to hang out with me. She I mean it was I don't like within the week Maybe a few days She was really, you know, adamant on wanting to hang out, came over to the house, you know, we had ordered pizza. And we had hung out she was very like supportive and, and kind and she wasn't like, she seemed pretty like [00:49:00] normal that day.
[00:49:00] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: She wasn't like really messed up. I had just had something like. Pretty major the week before happened that I was, like, kind of struggling with. And she was just really supportive, wanted to come over, wanted to be there for me. Telling me everything's gonna be okay.
[00:49:16] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: we'll get through this, even though she was really struggling at this point in her life. Like I still did not expect that to happen. Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think , we all were still holding on to a lot of hope. I mean, I think, yeah, we all thought that, yeah, just getting her out of Texas, that was going to save her life.
[00:49:40] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And I, we know that, you know, she was fighting, she was a fighter. We, she was always like, She called herself kind of like a cat with nine lives. And she was a survivor. I mean, she had multiple overdoses where they brought her back to life essentially. And so I just, I do think, I mean, yes, we, it was more [00:50:00] expected in the sense that we knew how much she was struggling but I think we just, we all believed that she was going to be able to overcome it.
[00:50:08] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: I think it's interesting. Again, Brittany, you've shared with us how you've kind of, how, you know, through the story, you've kind of shared how you got involved in mental health and supporting others. And, but like Corey, you too you know, you see patients, right? You're, I read your handle. So you want to tell us a little bit about how that happened and do you guys both?
[00:50:26] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: I, this is a question for both of you to Corey, after you answer that. Brittany already answered this a little bit, but I feel like you guys were kind of inspired maybe to go into this field because of your sisters. Yeah. So tell us a little bit about that, Corey. Yeah.
[00:50:39] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah. So, originally, I was going to school to go into nursing, and that didn't work out. And so I found myself really fascinated with psychology. And then
[00:50:52] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: I wonder why. I don't know.
[00:50:54] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: know, yeah, I know. Just like maybe something to do with my family dynamics, but it was really, it [00:51:00] was after Ashley had passed away that I ended up switching my majors.
[00:51:04] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: And I realized, I think I want to go to school to be a therapist to be able to help. support families in the way that we needed help, but we didn't know what to do or how to handle that situation. And just to kind of be that, that anchor or that guide for families and to just be there with them to get through it.
[00:51:23] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So that's what I ended up doing and went on to graduate school, got my master's in family therapy. I just loved studying. Studying the family system, fell in love with that. So ended up getting my license as a marriage and family therapist which is amazing and a job that I love. And I feel very fortunate to be doing.
[00:51:47] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So I specialize in working with children and adolescents and families and even adults kind of just the range. But I work with people who are struggling with [00:52:00] grief. And I also work with ADHD. So it's just very rewarding to be able to help support people and families kind of going through similar challenges than what, from what we experienced.
[00:52:14] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So it's pretty neat, 
[00:52:16] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: absolutely. And I think people ask me all the time and I mean, I just host a show and I host workshops and events. I didn't know I was going to be doing this two and a half years ago, but for you, this is like your life and what you do, I mean, both of you are , in this area and this has been a part of your life and people say all the time Oh, was, is this super cathartic?
[00:52:34] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And it's just not that simple. And I'd be curious about your opinion on this. It's rewarding. I think you used the right word there for sure, because it's rewarding, but I think it's, I think it can be healing. It could be heavy. It can be so many different things when you're doing something when you're taking kind of like your pain and your love and you're all the things from, obviously losing both of your sisters and pushing it forward and you've both found ways to incorporate it into your life.
[00:52:59] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: And I [00:53:00] think it is cathartic, but when people ask that question sometimes, I'm like, it's just not that simple. It's so many things, like some days it's kind of heavy, some days it is so rewarding, some days it is, sure, it's healing and cathartic, but I think it's a mixture of things. I don't think it's just one emotion when you go into that and you're helping. In the capacity that you are, you know, both of you.
[00:53:19] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Yeah, I agree. It's very complex and I think just requires a lot of self reflection and knowing when you have to kind of reach out to support yourself, whether it's through your colleagues or your own therapist or your family. So yeah.
[00:53:35] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: great point your own therapist great points Yeah, cuz we need that too. We can't be our own therapist, I think a lot of us think that we can Thank you both for sharing Ashley and Emily with us. I think It's obviously, it's a big story. It's not an easy one to tell and so I just really appreciate both of you being here.
[00:53:53] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: I think this is really cool that I've had two sisters on the show for the first time. Is there anything else that you guys, yeah, and I [00:54:00] love the bond that you guys have with each other. I just think it's really beautiful. It's a great thing to see. Because you've been through a lot together, you know?
[00:54:05] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: It's really beautiful and I love what you're doing to help other people too. Is there anything else that you guys would like to add for our incredible sibs and supporters that listened, that I didn't ask you, any last pieces of advice for, I mean, people that have lost a twin, people that have lost more than one sibling, we have, people that have lost a sibling through addiction, suicide, we've talked about so much on this episode.
[00:54:28] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Anything else that you guys would like to add? 
[00:54:30] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I just think that this experience of sharing our story has been healing in itself, not only individually, but just we were talking about for us as sisters, being able to share things with each other that we have never even talked about just because it's been so difficult, I think it's kind of just the elephant in the room type deal where some of these topics are just 
[00:54:55] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Painful to bring up that you kind of just leave them up on a shelf, but this [00:55:00] allowed us the opportunity to be able to bring up some of those things, which it is really cathartic and allows us the opportunity to be able to grow closer And kind of learn how to put some of these things in the past so that we're not carrying them with us.
[00:55:19] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: So I'm grateful to you for helping to facilitate that. And I just think, I personally see a lot of people struggle with that in general after experiencing significant loss. It can disrupt the family system. So it just, it takes, sometimes some time and some mutual effort to be able to work through that, but healing is possible.
[00:55:41] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Corey, you would know you probably see this on a daily basis with folks that come into your office. So not only have you experienced it, you probably See it too and something I just want to add to is everyone has that ridiculous quote They're like time heals all wounds. We, the three of us and everyone listening that's not true But I always say time does [00:56:00] allow us to heal.
[00:56:01] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: It's a totally different way of looking at it, right? and you kind of Kind of touched on that just a little bit, Corey. So I love that. Yeah. And it's okay to, that you guys carry your sisters with you and we move forward. That's okay. Brittany, anything you'd like to add before we close out and talk about where people can connect with you guys?
[00:56:16] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I really think Corey just said it all, but yeah, I've, I thank you so much for, having us on the podcast and letting me share my story and I'm happy that I got to do my twin piece, you know?
[00:56:32] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: I'm really happy to, and I know a lot of people are going to be just interested in your whole family dynamic and thanks for being our first twin on here. So, Corey, Brittany a lot of folks like to reach out if they connect with your story. Where are you comfortable with people reaching out to you?
[00:56:47] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: We'll put it in the show notes as well. 
[00:56:50] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Facebook's fine.
[00:56:51] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: So what is your handle on Facebook, Brittany?
[00:56:53] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: B R I T T F E N.
[00:56:56] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Perfect. And we'll put it in the show notes too. And Corey, where can they reach out to you?[00:57:00] 
[00:57:00] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: I would say my Instagram handle Cory Cares. C O R R I E C A R E S.
[00:57:09] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Very cute. I love it. I love it. Corey, Brittany, thank you so much for being here with us and sharing your sisters with us. We appreciate it.
[00:57:17] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--guest791696--corrie-and-brittany: Thank you, Maya. 
[00:57:18] 2024-08-12--t11-05-46pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion: Yes, thank you. And thank you guys so much for listening to the Surviving Siblings Podcast.