An amazing family

Hi, my name is Melissa. I am fundraising to help a very special family, my family.

I am going to skip the details of my backstory, but I will tell you the most important part. When I was young I lived with my Aunt Marilyn and my Uncle Gilles. I didn't just live with them, I was raised by them, guided by them and most importantly loved by them.

Marilyn is my aunt by blood and Gilles is my uncle through their marriage, but it never mattered they both loved me and provided for me the same as their own, the two men I know as my brothers, Daniel and David.

My uncle Gilles worked on the railroad, he worked shift work, sometimes being away from home for days at a time, working in every kind of weather to keep the goods moving throughout our great Nation. We lived a modest and happy life provided by the sole income of uncle Gilles, who never complained, never said no to a shift and never stopped working.

Even after he retired he remained employed at various jobs. This was good as my aunt Marilyn became passionate about helping through the church. Starting with blankets to Central America and continuing throughout the world. She was always helping, speaking and donating time and money to everyone that needed it and Gilles was always there supporting all her efforts.

In August, my uncle Gilles was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, so rare that they aren't sure how to treat it and have given him the full arsenal. It started with a surgery that lasted over 8 hours and left him unable to eat for several weeks and has now progressed to chemo. He will be having 6 cycles - 1 cycle consists of a trip 45 minutes from their home to Kingston, where they stay in lodging for 5 days and then 15 days at home, where he must go every morning to the other side of town for injections of white blood cells.

As anyone can imagine, the cost of gas alone is expensive, but to top it off they have lost the income from the jobs they each worked to supplement the pension that no longer stretches as far as it used to. Gilles is fighting the demon of cancer and Marilyn is there doing all she can, but neither of them can go in public as Gilles has no immune system at the moment.

My heart is broken that they are going through this, so bravely, so gracefully. Nobody can take away those sad and scary unknowing days , but hopefully we can help with a bit of the financial burden. I would love to relieve that stress in a small way.

If you can offer anything it would be welcome, I am hoping that the generous spirit that has worked through them for so long can be acknowledged and reciprocated...

Thank you all for taking a moment to read my little story as it means so very much.

God Bless x