Help for Aunt Jessie
Donation protected
This fundraiser is for Jessie Martin, affectionately known as Aunt Jessie to everyone whose ever met her. Her story isn't about a recent tragedy or terrible medical problem, even though you could say she's been there. This is about an elderly woman who has worked and given all of her life and received very little in return.
Jessie has known many hardships, but has a sense of humor that would make a grown man blush. She married the love of her life in 1970. Three months after their wedding, her husband Ron was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and kidney failure. They spent the first 3 years of their married life in and out of ICU's. Doctor's recommended putting Ron in a nursing home where they said he would most likely lose his battle within days or weeks. The doctor's encouraged Jessie to walk away and not be saddled with the hardship. She reacted with a few choice words that I cannot repeat here, and then quickly learned how to operate a home dialysis machine, draw blood and give injections. She took Ron home with her. She cared for Ron and he lived happily another 15 years thanks only to her dedication to him.
Jessie worked as a waitress at a truck stop for many years, where she most likely developed that sense of humor! She probably worked a hundred different jobs to make ends meet, but never had a job that offered a pension or decent benefits. She worked continually until she was in her early 70's. The last working years, she was a nanny to many children (her passion, having no children of her own).
She's now 76 and draws only social security. It's enough to pay her rent at HUD housing, the electric bill, and then maybe about two weeks of sparse groceries.
Today, I thought about the GoFundMe phenomenon after I took Jessie to the doctor. She is having some health problems and her co-pay today was $75. She had $100 in her bank account (5 days after her SS check had come in). I asked her what on earth was she going to do with just twenty-five dollars left for the rest of the month? She smiled and said, "I'll just do what I always do. I know how to do without."
I couldn't stand it. It ought not to be this way. The elderly should not have to do without after paying into the system their whole lives. It is simply unacceptable. But with no family to help, where do they turn?
There is only you and I. A friend, a stranger. A soul that wants to make a difference.
I set a goal of $5000. I don't know if it's too much or too little. I'd like for her to have a cushion in her bank account. Enough to pay her growing doctor bills. Jessie's old car finally gave up the ghost as well, so she's looking for a very inexpensive used vehicle. These are things that she has no hope of ever seeing without the kindness of strangers.
If you have the heart to help this sweet lady, please donate and share her story.
Gratefully,
Missy Barber
Friend to Aunt Jessie
Jessie has known many hardships, but has a sense of humor that would make a grown man blush. She married the love of her life in 1970. Three months after their wedding, her husband Ron was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and kidney failure. They spent the first 3 years of their married life in and out of ICU's. Doctor's recommended putting Ron in a nursing home where they said he would most likely lose his battle within days or weeks. The doctor's encouraged Jessie to walk away and not be saddled with the hardship. She reacted with a few choice words that I cannot repeat here, and then quickly learned how to operate a home dialysis machine, draw blood and give injections. She took Ron home with her. She cared for Ron and he lived happily another 15 years thanks only to her dedication to him.
Jessie worked as a waitress at a truck stop for many years, where she most likely developed that sense of humor! She probably worked a hundred different jobs to make ends meet, but never had a job that offered a pension or decent benefits. She worked continually until she was in her early 70's. The last working years, she was a nanny to many children (her passion, having no children of her own).
She's now 76 and draws only social security. It's enough to pay her rent at HUD housing, the electric bill, and then maybe about two weeks of sparse groceries.
Today, I thought about the GoFundMe phenomenon after I took Jessie to the doctor. She is having some health problems and her co-pay today was $75. She had $100 in her bank account (5 days after her SS check had come in). I asked her what on earth was she going to do with just twenty-five dollars left for the rest of the month? She smiled and said, "I'll just do what I always do. I know how to do without."
I couldn't stand it. It ought not to be this way. The elderly should not have to do without after paying into the system their whole lives. It is simply unacceptable. But with no family to help, where do they turn?
There is only you and I. A friend, a stranger. A soul that wants to make a difference.
I set a goal of $5000. I don't know if it's too much or too little. I'd like for her to have a cushion in her bank account. Enough to pay her growing doctor bills. Jessie's old car finally gave up the ghost as well, so she's looking for a very inexpensive used vehicle. These are things that she has no hope of ever seeing without the kindness of strangers.
If you have the heart to help this sweet lady, please donate and share her story.
Gratefully,
Missy Barber
Friend to Aunt Jessie
Organizer and beneficiary
Missy Barber
Organizer
Rockwall, TX
Jessie Martin
Beneficiary