Help with Funeral Expenses for Denise's Family

Our family has had a difficult, painful, and expensive year after the death of both of our moms; Stephanie's mother, Denise, and Matthew's mother, Gisela. We are hoping to raise money to help us pay off credit card debt that is directly related to the travel and funeral expenses we incurred from our mom's deaths.

Matthew lost his beloved mother, Gisela, in August 2024. During that time he made two roundtrips from Seattle to California; one to see her while she was ill, and another after she passed to help his family.

My mother, Denise, passed away three months later in November, 2024. I was with her in Virginia for two months, and I took care of her while she was in hospice.

Between both of our mother's illnesses and deaths I was out of work for about four months last year. I will also be unable to work for about three months of 2025 while I am preparing to sell the home that my mother lived in for 35 years.

During the end of 2024 we spent about $14,000 on plane tickets, hotels, rental cars, and funeral expenses. Roundtrip tickets from Seattle to Virginia are about $1,000 each after taxes and fees, so our family's tickets to Virginia alone cost around $9,000. We also paid about $4000 for my mother's funeral, and around $2,500 more for hotels, rental cars, food, etc.

We have always been frugal, and we typically carry a zero balance on credit cards. 2024 has blown a huge hole in our savings, and we currently have about $14,000 in credit card debt. All of the debt is directly related to travel and funeral expenses around our mother's deaths.

We decided to post a Go Fund Me because so many people have asked us how they could help. Raising money to pay back these bills would give us a tremendous sense of relief. We are so grateful for the kindness and generosity we have already been shown by our friends and neighbors. 2024 was a miserable year, and we are hopeful that things will get better soon!