EP 25 - Kelsey Pt. 1

Summary

Betrayal: Weekly - EP 25: Kelsey Pt. 1

Release Date: January 23, 2025
Host: Andrea Gunning
Produced by: Glass Podcasts and iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In Episode 25 of Betrayal: Weekly, host Andrea Gunning delves into the poignant and heart-wrenching story of Kelsey, a young woman whose life is upended by deceit, love, and profound loss. This episode, titled "Kelsey Pt. 1," unravels the complexities of trust and betrayal as Kelsey navigates her relationship with Morgan, a fellow counselor battling a terminal illness. Through Kelsey's narrative, listeners are invited to explore themes of love, sacrifice, and the devastating impact of hidden truths.

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Kelsey's Early Life and Family Struggles

Kelsey's journey begins with her tumultuous childhood marked by her father's abusive behavior. Raised by a resilient mother who fled an abusive relationship and breast cancer, Kelsey's early years were overshadowed by fear and instability.

Kelsey (03:06): "My dad was really abusive to all of us kids and my mom. And so my mom was finally able to get out when I was about three months old. She packed all of us up, left my dad, and drove cross country to my mom's hometown."

Settling in a predominantly Mormon small town on the West Coast, Kelsey and her sisters stood out due to their Cuban heritage. Her mother’s battle with breast cancer added another layer of struggle, forcing Kelsey to mature quickly and deal with the constant fear of her father's potential return from prison.

Kelsey (04:21): "I think she wanted to be super careful. And even when I asked her about it, I even remember her saying, this was private. This is adult things. I don't want to scare you. I'm protecting you from this information."

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Escaping Through Girl Scouts and College Life

To cope with her challenging home life, Kelsey found solace in the Girl Scouts, where she embraced her role and built lasting friendships. Her summers at Girl Scout camp became a sanctuary where she felt valued and connected.

Kelsey (05:21): "I would go for weeks at a time. I just loved summer camp. I was meeting women who were older than me, who were models of what it was like to really be yourself."

Driven by ambition and a desire to find herself, Kelsey excelled academically and secured a spot at her first-choice college, where she bravely came out as gay in a mostly Mormon community.

Kelsey (06:24): "I think I was afraid of being gay, definitely afraid of the implications of it."

However, unforeseen financial hardships forced her to transfer to a more affordable public university, isolating her from her initial support system and dampening her college experience.

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Meeting Morgan at Girl Scout Camp

Kelsey's connection with Girl Scout camp continued as she took on a leadership role. It was here that she met Morgan, a new counselor who captivated Kelsey with her mysterious demeanor and striking presence.

Kelsey (08:05): "I remember her walking into the office... she just had the most beautiful eyes. I just remember thinking... the most radical thing I'd ever known for someone to cut off their hair when I first met."

Despite Morgan's guarded nature, their mutual friend vouched for her, paving the way for a deep and meaningful friendship. Over the weeks, their bond intensified, leading to a heartfelt romance marked by mutual support and shared vulnerabilities.

Kelsey (08:47): "I felt really honored. I just felt like she kind of opened up more to me."

However, Morgan's struggle with an eating disorder began to surface, threatening her role at the camp and placing additional strain on their budding relationship.

Kelsey (10:11): "She had gotten disciplinary write ups from the camp director. If she didn't get it under control, this was not going to be the job for her."

Determined to help, Kelsey immersed herself in researching eating disorders, becoming a pillar of support for Morgan both personally and professionally.

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A Growing Relationship and a Sudden Diagnosis

As their relationship deepened, Kelsey and Morgan decided to move in together after camp, blending their lives amidst the pressures of college and career aspirations. However, the arrival of Morgan's devoutly Mormon parents introduced external conflict, leading to a painful rejection that only unified Kelsey and Morgan further.

Kelsey (12:19): "After that week, we started sharing like a journal. So we had a notebook that we would write notes to each other and then keep it in a cubby. And so we sort of had this very sweet romance at camp."

Tragedy struck when Morgan revealed her battle with terminal bone cancer, a condition she had been silently fighting while keeping her prognosis a secret.

Kelsey (17:28): "She had explained that she had been living with terminal bone cancer and she was in remission but her doctors gave her the prognosis when she was at the doctor today that she had three months to live."

Faced with Morgan's dire diagnosis, Kelsey reevaluated her priorities, choosing to forego her master's program to become Morgan's primary caregiver. This decision marked a significant shift in Kelsey's life, as she juggled the demands of caregiving, work, and maintaining her education.

Kelsey (23:04): "I started really doing some research and taking care of her. I was making meals."

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Financial Struggles and Rising Doubts

Moving across the country to support Morgan introduced new challenges. Kelsey took on the role of sole provider, handling the financial burdens of graduate school and Morgan's medical expenses. The strain of managing finances while caring for a terminally ill partner began to take its toll.

Kelsey (38:16): "I would say, like, 25% of every paycheck was going to Morgan. And so after a couple months of being on the east coast, it was like, thousands and thousands of dollars we were pouring into anything related to her health."

Simultaneously, Morgan's reluctance to discuss her medical condition created a communication barrier between them, heightening Kelsey's anxiety and fostering seeds of doubt about Morgan's true intentions.

Kelsey (39:02): "I wasn't even sure how to broach the topic of, like, can we go together to your doctor to get an update on what we can look at?"

Her mother's suspicions about inconsistencies in Morgan's story further complicated Kelsey's trust, ultimately leading her to question the authenticity of Morgan's illness.

Kelsey (40:36): "My mom, who obviously has experience of cancer, was like, it just feels off. Like, when she's around us something feels off."

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Cliffhanger: Unveiling the Truth

As Kelsey's doubts intensify, the episode sets the stage for a dramatic revelation. A forthcoming Facebook message hints at deeper deceptions surrounding Morgan, leaving listeners eager to uncover the truth behind Morgan's condition and the extent of her betrayal.

Kelsey (41:49): "Got a Facebook message. She's like, I've been down a rabbit hole about Morgan. I have proof there's a lot more to this story. And that's when it really blew."

The episode concludes on this suspenseful note, promising further exploration of Kelsey's unraveling trust and the ultimate revelation of betrayal in the next installment.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Kelsey on Her Mother’s Protection:

  "This is private. This is adult things. I don't want to scare you. I'm protecting you from this information."
  [04:34]

• Kelsey Reflecting on Girl Scout Camp:

  "When I think about where I felt like I mattered most, it was there."
  [05:01]

• On Falling in Love:

  "I fell in love with a girl in the grade above me."
  [06:14]

• Kelsey's Sacrifice for Morgan:

  "I can do this for three months for somebody to enjoy the last few months of their life."
  [24:12]

• Kelsey Expressing Doubt:

  "This was a really meaningful way of honoring her life."
  [25:50]

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Conclusion

Episode 25 of Betrayal: Weekly masterfully weaves Kelsey's intricate story of love, loss, and deception. As listeners traverse Kelsey's emotional landscape, they are confronted with the fragility of trust and the devastating consequences of hidden truths. With a gripping cliffhanger, the episode leaves audiences anticipating the continuation of Kelsey's journey and the full revelation of Morgan's true story.

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For those who haven't listened yet, Betrayal: Weekly offers a compelling exploration of real-life stories where trust is broken, and lives are forever changed. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or your preferred podcast platform to stay updated with the latest episodes.

Transcript

[Kelsey]

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[Andrea Gunning]

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[Kelsey]

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[Andrea Gunning]

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[Kelsey]

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[Kelsey]

My mom was the first one to be like, does this seem off at all to you? It was really the first time someone said something that made me think, what do you mean off? Like, I was immediately defensive.

[Andrea Gunning]

I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is Betrayal, a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything.

[Kelsey]

When I hear other people's horrific stories of things that have happened to them, I now have a lens of what a human experience to love so deeply that we're willing to suspend disbelief that high is like. I truly believe that deception really comes from a deep desire to be loved. And I can sympathize with the desire to be loved.

[Andrea Gunning]

This is Kelsey's story of building her life around someone else's lies. Lies that consumed Kelsey's 20s, derailed her early career, and destroyed her sense of trust. For many years she tried to hide from the deception she experienced, but now she's ready to tell her story as a listener note names and locations have been changed to protect privacy. When she was a little girl, Kelsey's mom told her the origin story of their family unit. It was a survival story.

[Kelsey]

My dad was really abusive to all of us kids and my mom. And so my mom was finally able to get out when I was about three months old. She packed all of us up, left my dad, and drove cross country to my mom's hometown. That's where I spent most of my life.

[Andrea Gunning]

Her mom and the three girls started anew in a small west coast town. But the fear of her dad was always looming in the background.

[Kelsey]

He actually went to prison after my mom left. And if he got out of prison, there was this fear that my dad would find us one day.

[Andrea Gunning]

Nearly everyone in their new town was Mormon, and their family wasn't. Their dad was Cuban. So Kelsey and her sisters stood out in a sea of blonde hair and blue eyes.

[Kelsey]

I remember my mom would, like, brush out my hair, so I looked more white, and so I looked like the other Mormon girls in town. And then essentially told me not to talk about my background, which worked because she was also, I think, hiding us from my dad in prison.

[Andrea Gunning]

Her mom's survival story had another chapter for Kelsey's entire childhood. Her mom battled breast cancer.

[Kelsey]

It was finally getting away from my dad. But then she had a bout of cancer she thought she was going to die from.

[Andrea Gunning]

As a kid, Kelsey didn't know the details. She just knew her mom was exhausted and was always going to the hospital.

[Kelsey]

And that was definitely on purpose. I think that she wanted to be super careful. And even when I asked her about it, I even remember her saying, this was private. This is adult things. I don't want to scare you. I'm protecting you from this information.

[Andrea Gunning]

Kelsey's escape was the Girl Scouts.

[Kelsey]

I had this tiny pocket of girlhood that was so fun, like weeding once a week with my girlfriends to earn badges. When I think about where I felt like I mattered most, it was there.

[Andrea Gunning]

Over the summer, she started going to Girl Scout camp. There, she was allowed to just be a kid.

[Kelsey]

I would go for weeks at a time. I just loved summer camp. I was meeting women who were older than me, who were models of what it was like to really be yourself. I have the best memories at Girl Scout camp.

[Andrea Gunning]

The women who ran the camp were Kelsey's idols. She wanted to be just like them.

[Kelsey]

I just thought they were so special and cool. I just thought, that's it. I'll be there one day.

[Andrea Gunning]

As she got older and entered high school, she started Dreaming about broadening her horizons.

[Kelsey]

I'm going to do whatever it takes to get out of the state I was raised in and really find myself. So I got perfect grades and worked really hard in school. But this was also around the same time that I fell in love for the first time. And I fell in love with a girl in the grade above me.

[Andrea Gunning]

Kelsey and her high school girlfriend kept their relationship a secret. It was in the mid-2000s, and they were in a mostly Mormon community at the time.

[Kelsey]

I think I was afraid of being gay, definitely afraid of the implications of it.

[Andrea Gunning]

So she set her sights on going to college in a place where she could be out and be herself. She was accepted to her first choice and made the leap.

[Kelsey]

I loved being on my own for the first time. I came out and openly had a relationship and thought that was so special, and I was doing really good in school.

[Andrea Gunning]

But her family's finances took an unexpected turn. So after the first year, Kelsey had to transfer to a new university, one that she'd be paying for herself.

[Kelsey]

I transferred to the public university. I was just pretty isolated and it wasn't the dream for me, but it's all I could afford.

[Andrea Gunning]

She worked to put herself through college, and she started working summers as a counselor at her old Girl Scout camp.

[Kelsey]

It was life changing and I loved it.

[Andrea Gunning]

By her third summer, she earned an executive leadership role at the camp, helping coordinate all the younger counselors.

[Kelsey]

I was doing real programming work and I went to summer camp that year early because senior staff meets early before counselors get there.

[Andrea Gunning]

Arriving at camp was a much anticipated reunion where she saw all of her closest friends again.

[Kelsey]

I had a lot of friends at camp, like I had been really established there. This was the first work experience I ever had when I was out. And for the first time at camp, we had other queer people. They really diversified our pool of hiring that year.

[Andrea Gunning]

One of the new counselors immediately caught Kelsey's attention. Her name was Morgan.

[Kelsey]

I remember her walking into the office. She was very sporty, so she had the classic REI look, and then they'll cut off hair. And she just had the most beautiful eyes. I just remember thinking. Mostly because it was the most radical thing I'd ever known for someone to cut off their hair when they first met.

[Andrea Gunning]

Morgan was shy. She kept to herself and seemed guarded.

[Kelsey]

I found her to be really mysterious.

[Andrea Gunning]

But she and Morgan had a close mutual friend in common.

[Kelsey]

My other camp friend really vouched for her and was like, trust me, when she opens up, you're gonna love her.

[Andrea Gunning]

And over time, she did. It felt like she chose Kelsey.

[Kelsey]

I felt really honored. I just felt like she kind of opened up more to me. I felt really privileged to be the one person that she was opening up to. Like, we would spend the weekend after training just talking, and Ron was like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe you got her to talk to you. That's how shy she was. And she was telling me, like, really intimate details about her life.

[Andrea Gunning]

Even though Morgan was only 20 years old, she'd been through a lot.

[Kelsey]

She had shared about some sexual assault, body dysmorphia, struggles with an eating disorder. I just felt like I really knew her.

[Andrea Gunning]

Morgan confided in her. Forming close bonds was a hallmark of the camp experience. They would be spending every day together for the next three months in camp.

[Kelsey]

Time, that's three years. It's a massive amount of time that people don't normally get to spend in a very intense environment where you're, like, growing and learning and changing about yourself and learning things from kids and teaching kids at remarkable things that change you. It really is a lifetime together.

[Andrea Gunning]

At camp, there were no cell phones, no distractions from the outside world. And in this bubble, Kelsey knew she was developing feelings for Morgan, but she was in a leadership role. And then there was this.

[Kelsey]

Camp relationships are famously passionate and intense and destructive, which is why we avoid them at all costs.

[Andrea Gunning]

So they continued on with a supercharged friendship. It was a connection Morgan needed at home. She'd been struggling with an eating disorder.

[Kelsey]

She had shared that she was really struggling with her eating disorder at camp. And eating with your campers is such a huge part of the experience. Like, you're with your campers 247 and were really rigid at camp about calorie intake and water intake.

[Andrea Gunning]

That kind of structure and vigilance around food was really triggering for Morgan. In fact, it was having an impact on her job performance.

[Kelsey]

She had gotten disciplinary write ups from the camp director. If she didn't get it under control, this was not going to be the job for her.

[Andrea Gunning]

The idea of losing Morgan at camp was upsetting. Kelsey felt a responsibility to help as both a friend and a camp executive.

[Kelsey]

And so she was really nervous about losing her job because she really loved the work. I remember spending all of my free time. I got books from the local library and brought them up to camp and was reading about eating disorders. Like, I really became her resource to staying. I was like, I'll help you stay. Don't worry. I've got this under control. And I really felt Responsible for that.

[Andrea Gunning]

They were spending a lot of time together. Even when they had days off, we.

[Kelsey]

Would travel as friends, like off to go to Walmart and get face wipes or to a local festival. We tried to get as much time off from camp as possible. My outside of camp time became Morgan time.

[Andrea Gunning]

About halfway through the summer, they took a day off together and drove to Kelsey's hometown.

[Kelsey]

And I just think there was this little switch. One weekend we were just alone for the first time, really together. And then we kissed.

[Andrea Gunning]

Now it was clear that the attraction was mutual.

[Kelsey]

After that week, we started sharing like a journal. So we had a notebook that we would write notes to each other and then keep it in a cubby. And then I'd write it put and she'd write it and put it away. And so we sort of had this very sweet romance at camp.

[Andrea Gunning]

Near the end of camp, Morgan's parents came to town. They were devout Mormons, and on that visit, Morgan wanted to come out to them. Kelsey drove her to meet them to be there for emotional support.

[Kelsey]

She met with her parents and I wasn't with her. I was in the parking lot. But I remember seeing them at a picnic bench. She came out to them and it didn't go well. She got back in the car, she was like, they believe I'm living in sin. They think this is wrong. They think that any person who had influence over me is of the devil and that I should separate myself from those people. She was really, really emotional about it.

[Andrea Gunning]

Her parents rejection brought the two of them even closer.

[Kelsey]

It sort of deepened that connection. It was like, look what we're fighting for.

[Andrea Gunning]

There was so much at stake and Morgan was now left on her own. They made their relationship official and when camp ended, Morgan couldn't go home. So they decided to move in together.

[Kelsey]

We were all like, look how adult we are. We all have our own space and our own beds. So it wasn't like, oh, I live with my girlfriend now. It was very much like we were just continuing the summer camp experience. I think we were on that high of the summer fling.

[Andrea Gunning]

It was Kelsey's last year of college. At first, living with Morgan was a novelty. Even mundane tasks were exciting.

[Kelsey]

Figuring out bus schedules, like, everything was just really fun. I also remember doing paintball fights and making cookies and burning them for the neighbors.

[Andrea Gunning]

But soon reality set in.

[Kelsey]

I was working also a full time job while I was in school because I had to pay for it. I was doing everything to put me on the trajectory to go to my master's. Program. And at this point, I was on track to be valedictorian.

[Andrea Gunning]

Kelsey's priority was school.

[Kelsey]

We just weren't getting as much time together, and we're, like, drifting a little bit.

[Andrea Gunning]

But right when the semester began picking up steam, Kelsey started receiving emails from Morgan's family.

[Kelsey]

I remember them very explicitly. One was from her dad, One was from her mom, saying that it was an abomination, that I was poisoning Morgan, that I took her away from the life of Christ. It didn't help that the person Morgan was waiting for to come back from a mission had come back, and they had really hoped that she would marry him. Every time I got a message from them, it was very nasty.

[Andrea Gunning]

The message was clear. They thought Kelsey brainwashed their daughter, and they wanted her to leave Morgan alone.

[Kelsey]

Morgan's very sacred and pure. Stop this now before you ruin that forever for her. Like, they deeply wanted to make me hate myself, so I didn't feel deserving of Morgan.

[Andrea Gunning]

The messages were overwhelming.

[Kelsey]

After a couple months, it got complicated very quickly. It was just that feeling of thinking that I was destroying someone's salvation. It was taxing.

[Andrea Gunning]

But Morgan was fixated. All she wanted to do was talk about her parents.

[Kelsey]

With Kelsey, it's like, I'm with you. I care about you, but, like, I can't process this with you all the time. I think I started feeling like she needs to branch out, like I realistically can't be everything for her.

[Andrea Gunning]

Between the stress of school and the drama with Morgan's parents, Kelsey's connection with Morgan was fading.

[Kelsey]

That intimate connection felt like it stayed at camp. In the real world, it was kind of hard to sustain because I had a lot of ambition. I was really excited about starting my life somewhere new. And it just suddenly was like, ugh, this is kind of affecting my ability to be present at work in school, and I'm really rigid about doing right by my career.

[Andrea Gunning]

So Kelsey made a tough decision.

[Kelsey]

Ultimately, I came home from school one day and said, this is not what I want anymore, and I think it's better if we break up. She said, okay, and then left, which she would do a lot when she was trying to process something. She would go for a run. So she went for a run and came back, and I was already asleep, and she was asleep, and we went to bed.

[Andrea Gunning]

The next day, Kelsey came home from school to find Morgan on their couch in tears. There was something she needed to tell Kelsey.

[Kelsey]

I sat down with her, and she had explained that she had been hiding something from me that she didn't want to talk to me about because she didn't want to burden me with it. But she just got really bad news. I honestly thought at the time that it was something with her parents, but.

[Andrea Gunning]

It wasn't about her parents.

[Kelsey]

That's when she shared that she had been living with terminal bone cancer and she was in remission but her doctors gave her the prognosis when she was at the doctor today that she had three months to live. Foreign.

[Morgan]

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[Andrea Gunning]

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[Kelsey]

I don't think I got it at.

[Andrea Gunning]

First, but Morgan had known about the diagnosis all along, but she was just telling her now that the cancer had returned when she only had three months to live.

[Kelsey]

I asked her more details. She said she was diagnosed when she first went to college. She had an injury, a bone break. They did some testing, and they discovered that she had cancer. She was fighting it for about a semester, but she beat that bout and then hadn't had a recurrence until that day.

[Andrea Gunning]

She was so flooded with grief for Morgan that the breakup became an afterthought.

[Kelsey]

I remember feeling so deeply sad because my breakup with Morgan was never about not loving her. I cared about her so deeply. The thought of her dying was insane to me and felt so unfair, especially to have this prognosis with her family not being very close. I was devastated for her. We were sobbing, and then we went to bed. And I remember holding her, thinking, no, no, this is like my partner going through cancer. This isn't, oh, my ex girlfriend from yesterday. This was someone I love so deeply. Dying, like, this really is the end of someone's life.

[Andrea Gunning]

The next morning, Kelsey woke up with a new perspective.

[Kelsey]

It changed the way I framed our relationship. I felt grateful that she was alive, and I was ready to figure this out together.

[Andrea Gunning]

So she sat down at the kitchen table with her laptop and a notepad to talk about what this would mean. Luckily, Morgan had some answers.

[Kelsey]

She's like, I already have a plan with my doctor. We're gonna start treatment. It's really unlikely that I'll survive this treatment, but it's worthy of taking a shot. And so that's what she did.

[Andrea Gunning]

During the day, Kelsey would attend class for her senior year of college, and Morgan would spend the day at the hospital.

[Kelsey]

The next few weeks, she was doing treatment all the time. Like, four or five times a week. She would leave the house and come back really tired and struggled to keep a conversation, struggled to stay awake. She was just deeply impacted by the treatment.

[Andrea Gunning]

Quickly, Kelsey took on a caretaker role.

[Kelsey]

I started really doing some research and taking care of her. I was making meals.

[Andrea Gunning]

Once again, she was juggling the weight of school and being there for Morgan.

[Kelsey]

I distinctly remember trying to complete homework and being like, I can't finish this. She's puking somewhere, thinking, like, get your priorities straight. This is someone's life. This is the end of their human life. And you're worried about, like, not finishing this math problem. Like, why was I wasting my time on these early morning classes for, like, my own Benefit when she only had a few months left to live. I just suddenly felt selfish and stupid. And that's really the moment that I reframed my entire life.

[Andrea Gunning]

For the first time in her life, Kelsey let school take a back seat.

[Kelsey]

I was letting go of a lot of things I'd worked my whole life toward, but I was like, I can do this for three months for somebody to enjoy the last few months of their life.

[Andrea Gunning]

Christmas was a few weeks away. With Morgan's family out of the picture, they decided to celebrate with a family friend, an older woman named Joanne who'd been a mentor to Morgan for years.

[Kelsey]

She considered her like a second mom. We drove out of state to visit her. This family friend was with her when Morgan got her first diagnosis of having lung cancer. And she was with her when she was doing IV treatments. To meet someone who was so intimately involved with her treatment, I felt really bonded right away. I remember her saying, I didn't even know what I was doing. I just got kind of thrown into this. I was like, I didn't know what I was doing either.

[Andrea Gunning]

It was a relief to talk with someone else who'd been involved with Morgan's care. She was a great resource. For Christmas, Morgan and Kelsey got each other something special. We got rings for our wedding, rings for their wedding. Morgan wanted to get married to Kelsey. It was a legal and financial decision.

[Kelsey]

Her attorney had shared with her that when she died, her health payout would be really big and it would go to her parents because that's next of kin. And that was really overwhelming for her. Like, she had fought so hard for her queerness, and now suddenly, in her death as a queer woman, all this money would be granted to her parents. But if she were married to me, then I would get to decide where that money goes.

[Andrea Gunning]

Morgan wanted the money to be donated to a library foundation. Kelsey was honored to help facilitate one of her final wishes.

[Kelsey]

Of course, whatever you need to do what you want to do at the end of your life. So for her, this was a really meaningful way of honoring her life. So we agreed that we would get married.

[Andrea Gunning]

Kelsey felt a responsibility to make sure every day was a good day.

[Kelsey]

I tried to make our life so joyful and loving and silly, and that's how we just tried to spend our time. We didn't have very much left.

[Andrea Gunning]

But the days were still difficult, especially as Morgan's health worsened.

[Kelsey]

She would go to treatment and come back and throw up. She was tired all the time. I remember coming home from work and she'd have, like, Fallen over. She seemed very weak to me. And this is also how my mom would describe her treatments. Going through breast cancer, Morgan would like lose her hair. I'd come home and she'd have taken a nap and she'd have hair on the pillow and I'd be like, oh my God, your hair.

[Andrea Gunning]

This only furthered Kelsey's resolve to support Morgan. She offered again to go to the hospital with her, to be by her side as she got treatment. Morgan said no, she didn't want to be a burden.

[Kelsey]

She was very, very clear this was her private journey and that she had already burdened me enough and she didn't want me to lose work or lose school.

[Andrea Gunning]

After all, it was Kelsey's job that kept the afloat financially. As the weeks went on, the treatment seemed to be slowing the progression of her cancer. And Morgan hit the three month mark.

[Kelsey]

By that time we had gotten word that she'd be that bout of cancer. There was a lot of medical language, but essentially it was like, we're doing good. Hold on. Not you'll live, but like, I'm feeling okay today and for the next couple weeks because I think this treatment is working.

[Andrea Gunning]

For the past three months, Kelsey had been bracing herself for the end, putting her all into caring for Morgan. It had been exhausting.

[Kelsey]

I still worked full time. I still finished my degree. By the time graduation came around, I just like barely made it. Like I barely emotionally, physically, spiritually made it. I just remember being an empty person. When my family came for graduation, I just felt like nothing.

[Andrea Gunning]

In her last semester, she earned B's and C's and her dreams of being valedictorian were dashed. Instead of giving the valedictorian speech, she applied to be an honorary student speaker at commencement.

[Kelsey]

I was able to stand alongside the valedictorian, which would have been me, and share my story about what happened with my partner. Like what it really meant for me to give up my schooling in order to help someone I loved.

[Andrea Gunning]

After she graduated, they finally had the time to plan a small wedding ceremony. At the time, same sex marriage wasn't legal in their state, so they had to travel.

[Kelsey]

She didn't feel good enough to fly, but she did feel good enough to drive. So that's when we booked our trip for our wedding ceremony.

[Andrea Gunning]

Kelsey drove them to California with Morgan asleep in the passenger seat. Along the way, they camped in national parks.

[Kelsey]

There was something really beautiful and intimate. It felt like the end to me. She just didn't seem all there. But there's something about being in nature together. And our dynamic started in nature. It was actually really beautiful the whole trip we took disposable cameras, and it was very fleeting and lovely. And I remember one of the nights just before we had our ceremony, we slept on the beach of the Lost coast. And there was something really poetic about waking up. Morgan was still sleeping. And I got out of the tent and, like, looked out into the ocean and just thought, like, if I can love someone this big one day after Morgan's passing, someone will be able to love me in this way back.

[Andrea Gunning]

The day before the ceremony, they both sat down to write their vows.

[Kelsey]

We wrote our vows on, like, hotel napkins. Like, my white dress is in the corner. I'm, like, sitting down with this piece of paper, and I suddenly didn't know what to say. I think vows are for promising something, but I don't know how to promise something to her in her death. Like, it just suddenly felt wrong.

[Andrea Gunning]

Maybe it was nerves. She couldn't help but overthink the whole thing.

[Kelsey]

I gotta stop getting in my head. And so I, like, kind of cleared my head of everything. And this was the commitment she made, promising her that. The memory of her and who I knew her to be and, like, the love that people didn't get the chance to know, especially her family that would live on.

[Andrea Gunning]

They delivered their vows and signed the papers in Sequoia National Park.

[Kelsey]

We drove into the woods and found a really neat tree. That was two trees that, like, corkscrewed into one, and there was, like, one little spot where you could squeeze into. And so we squeezed into these trees and signed the paperwork and we left.

[Andrea Gunning]

Being officially married was a relief. It was the final thing Morgan wanted to do before she passed away.

[Kelsey]

We drove back from California, and I was, like, driving into the sun as it was going down thinking, I know in my heart that I've done everything that I possibly can for Morgan to feel loved. Well, like, I felt like I had finished what I needed to do. I remember her looking at me with a lot of love and, like, she saw me as a wife. Like, I almost felt her relief. Like, okay, got it. Everything's gonna be okay. I obviously interpret that differently. Now.

[Andrea Gunning]

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[Morgan]

That's selectquote.com selectquote.com details on example [e-mail].

[Andrea Gunning]

In less than a year, Kelsey and Morgan went from being 21 year olds at camp to being a married couple handling a terminal disease. Now they were committed to each other. For however much time Morgan had left, Kelsey had been accepted into a master's program across the country. Neither of them expected Morgan to be alive for that next chapter.

[Kelsey]

We're legally married and now it's a little complicated because I don't know how to bring up, like, how am I supposed to navigate the next few months?

[Andrea Gunning]

Morgan's successful treatment meant she had more time. She could take a break from treatment, but her cancer was still deemed terminal. No one knew how long she really had left, not even her doctors.

[Kelsey]

It was very much like, this is what we've been told and we're lucky to have this little bit of extra time. It was suddenly another continuation, another chapter of live like you're dying.

[Andrea Gunning]

Kelsey didn't know what this meant for her plans to start graduate school. She barely got through her last semester.

[Kelsey]

I was really conflicted. I was like, oh no, this is everything I've worked for and I can still go. I still got in and I could still do it, but I Can't, because it's gonna be with Morgan. And I'm grateful that she's still alive. I'm truly grateful. But I also feel like I've lost myself and I don't know how to gain it back if she's still here. Like, I hadn't planned for it.

[Andrea Gunning]

She was worried about juggling her master's program and supporting Morgan at the same time. She didn't even know if she could handle that, but she decided.

[Kelsey]

I said we would do this, and we're married now. And so now we're gonna travel across the country and start my master's together.

[Andrea Gunning]

They rented a U Haul and began the cross country drive. Along the way, they made a pit stop to see Joanne, Morgan's mentor.

[Kelsey]

She was sort of our middle point between the west coast and the east coast. And when we got to her place, I immediately sensed that there was some sort of tension between them. Like maybe an argument had been had and I didn't know about it. It just felt like we were kind of dancing around something that was unsaid.

[Andrea Gunning]

It was clear something had come between Joanne and Morgan. Joanne said she wanted to talk to Kelsey in private, but they just couldn't find the right moment at the end of their stay.

[Kelsey]

I could tell that she was holding back from saying something, but she just said, okay, good luck, and that was it. So there was sort of this, like, mystery about this odd dynamic we had walked away from, and that made me nervous. I distinctly remember being in the U hall and Morgan being asleep next to me and thinking, we're about to move to a new state. I don't know anyone in. She doesn't know anyone in. We have no friends or family. And the one really close family connection that she has, she sort of just had a rupture with. It was really the first time I thought, like, oh, this is really just us now.

[Andrea Gunning]

When they arrived in their new city, they had to face the reality of living alone. Kelsey found a job in hospitality while she started her master's degree, but Morgan was too sick to work.

[Kelsey]

And the reality of affording grad school, working full time, going to school full time, paying for both of our lives, and also paying for cancer treatments, medicines was really a tremendous burden.

[Andrea Gunning]

Kelsey was only 22, and she was the sole provider. Morgan found new doctors, and now that they were married, Kelsey was paying for more of Morgan's care.

[Kelsey]

I would say, like, 25% of every paycheck was going to Morgan. And so after a couple months of being on the east coast, it was like, thousands and thousands of dollars we were pouring into anything related to her health.

[Andrea Gunning]

She became hyper fixated on financials.

[Kelsey]

I remember specifically Googling what it actually costs if someone dies. She wanted to be cremated. And I just remember looking at this $1,500 price tag, thinking, I'm never gonna get what I need to cremate her.

[Andrea Gunning]

But she found it hard to have open conversations with Morgan about it because.

[Kelsey]

She didn't want to talk about death. It was just like, every tiny little thing was overwhelmingly my responsibility.

[Andrea Gunning]

It had been a year since Morgan shared her diagnosis. Even though Kelsey was now paying for Morgan's care, she still wasn't privy to the details of it.

[Kelsey]

I wasn't even sure how to broach the topic of, like, can we go together to your doctor to get an update on what we can look at? Can we reassess your medications?

[Andrea Gunning]

But Morgan didn't want to talk about it. She wanted to do everything alone. And that worried Kelsey.

[Kelsey]

What happens if I don't know where you are? How do I get, like, your health record? Like, there was suddenly some, like, logistics I didn't really have the answers to.

[Andrea Gunning]

The lack of information was becoming a real problem for Kelsey. It became a wedge in their relationship.

[Kelsey]

This is where things started shifting in our dynamic, where it's like, I need real concrete answers. What is your current prognosis? Like, how is your body doing? Where is the cancer in your body?

[Andrea Gunning]

Without any answers, she was getting frustrated. She felt like she couldn't help Morgan if she didn't have all the information. That year, they spent Christmas with Kelsey's family.

[Kelsey]

We flew home. Morgan was so sick that she could barely even talk. She was lethargic. She was sleepy all the time. She was throwing up. Whatever new medication, whatever new treatment she was trying was really taxing. Like, I remember taking photos together that trip, and she's sleeping in all of them.

[Andrea Gunning]

This was the second time they thought it was their last Christmas together. And it was the first time Kelsey's mom was getting to really spend time with Morgan.

[Kelsey]

My mom had pulled me aside at some point during this holiday, and she was the first one to be like, does this seem off at all to you? And it was really the first time someone, like, said something that made me think, like, what do you mean off? I was immediately defensive.

[Andrea Gunning]

Still, Kelsey's mom insisted that something didn't add up. She was starting to feel skeptical about Morgan's story.

[Kelsey]

My mom, who obviously has experience of cancer, was like, it just feels off. Like, when she's around us something feels off.

[Andrea Gunning]

Before this moment, Kelsey had never doubted Morgan's diagnosis. For nearly two years. Her entire life revolved around Morgan's help.

[Kelsey]

I had felt like a bad person for even feeling burdened by cancer. I had never considered doubting it at all. But this is when I started to feel doubtful. And that was when she started breaking bones.

[Andrea Gunning]

On the next episode of Betrayal, I.

[Kelsey]

Got a Facebook message. She's like, I've been down a rabbit hole about Morgan. I have proof there's a lot more to this story. And that's when it really blew.

[Andrea Gunning]

If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team or want to tell us your Betrayal story, email [e-mail] that's betrayalpodmail.com we're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five star reviews go a long way. A big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison, hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Monique Laborde. Also produced by Ben Federman. Associate producers are Kristin Melcuri and Kaitlyn Golden. Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Krynchek. Audio editing and mixing by Matt Del Vecchio Additional editing support from Tanner Robbins Betrayals theme composed by Oliver Baines Music library provided by My Music and for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kelsey]

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[Andrea Gunning]

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[Kelsey]

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[Andrea Gunning]

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[Andrea Gunning]

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[Morgan]

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