I married my best friend, Brenda Schenk Camarena, on April 24, 1993. We were blessed with four children, Josh, Mariah, Aleks, and Zach. We enjoyed traveling and gathering with friends from church and school. Brenda loved going to Disney parks and we were living that fairytale life. Then, in 2016 we were told that Brenda was suffering from dementia, diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. She was no longer able to do what she loved most, serving as a pediatric physical therapist. Then she was told that she was no longer able to drive, taking away more of her independence. I tried working full time and taking care of Brenda’s needs, but I eventually made the decision to take early retirement to be her full time caretaker. I did that for a couple of years, but Brenda became very ill and needed more care than I was able to provide at home, and made the difficult decision to have her cared for as a resident at Artesia Christian Home Memory Care. I know that some questioned whether that was the best decision, but I can tell you that she is loved and cared for well by a great group of people at ACH Memory Care. The pandemic made an already very difficult situation worse when I was no longer able to visit with Brenda daily. I could only see her through her bedroom window and I don’t know how long it will be before anyone is allowed to visit inside with loved ones. I wanted to find the best doctors and searched for any possible treatments so we traveled to Nashville and Michigan and tried a long list of recommended supplements and treatments that were not deemed necessary by our insurance, so the costs were not approved. Friends have long suggested that I set up a GoFundMe page to help cover some of the cost for Brenda’s care, but haven’t done so, until today. My hope was to be able to work as a substitute for school districts in order to cover some of the expenses. I renewed my credentials and just as I was preparing to start, Covid-19 closed our schools, so there was no need for substitutes. I am hopeful that schools are able to return sometime before the end of this year. The GoFundMe funds will help provide a bridge to get us through this time without having to get further into debt with our home equity line of credit. Please know that I understand that not everyone is able to provide financial support at this time. Our family continues to covet your prayers and encouragement that we have received over the past few years on this journey. We are blessed with wonderful friends and family who have helped us in so many ways. I also know that we serve a God who is bigger than our difficulties and we will continue to choose Joy, even in the most difficult of situations. Thank you for your consideration.