CONROE – Inside a small apartment in Conroe, Taija Rubright hung Christmas ornaments with her four children, 7-year-old Ace, 6-year-old Titus, 2-year-old Easton and 3-month-old Emmy.
What should be a lovely, happy, holiday moment is missing one monumental person -- Taija’s husband, Mathew.
Mathew was stabbed to death by his brother while inside a moving vehicle in Tucson, Arizona just over a year ago.
”We were headed to Texas at the time to start a new life, as a family, and they got into an argument, him and his brother, and he was stabbed 33 times while he was driving and they crashed into the side of a house”, Taija said.
As horrific as that sounds, Taija said all three of her boys saw their father thrown from the car and lying on the ground covered in blood.
Now, he’s always on their minds, according to the mother.
”The boys cry every night for him, missing him, and they are always asking for him. It’s been really hard on us. Really hard”, Taija said.
Now, traumatized by their father’s murder, the boys are in counseling and Taija is drowning in debt, struggling to support her four kids on their father’s social security death benefits only.
”I’ve almost been evicted twice from this place. We just struggle every day. Every day is hard because it’s either, do I put gasoline in the car or do I have to pay the electric bill to keep the lights on”, Taija said.
All of this means there will be no Christmas for Taija and her children.
”It truly breaks my heart”, Taija said.
But now, Spencer Solves changed all that.
Thanks to our friends at Academy Sports and Outdoors, we will be giving each of Taija’s children a brand new bicycle, plus $1,000 to buy whatever else they want.
And lastly, the biggest surprise was a check for $1,500 from Laura Alexis, the CEO of Innovative Lasers of Houston.
“I can’t thank you, all of you guys, everybody, for putting something under our Christmas tree this year. Thank you so much”, Taija said while clutching her sons.