I get the sentiment, but I'd get even more grief from her for buying something new and wasting this bike. Besides, "just buying" another bike is not a possibility right now

I looked at the bike and as far as I can tell, it's only the fork that was bent. There's no wiggling in the handlebars nor when I move the fork around. I took off the front fender and took the bike for a spin. Everything is pretty much fine except the handling is a little different, I'm assuming because the rake has been set back like 10mm! She rode it and said it's fine. But she said it in that way that girls do when they say "everything is fine" but things are not fine.

I'm going to look around online for a cruiser fork. I know it's 22.2 diameter and 30mm rake.