A Story of the Ultimate Love

In 2013, my sister Lisa got a call from her ex-husband. He was in the ER—he had been taken by ambulance for chest pain—which was not surprising due to his four previous heart attacks, countless angiograms, stents, open-heart surgery and medications that were keeping his heart beating. His condition quickly deteriorated, and he ended up coding and was brought back to life—albeit in a coma for several months. With no family willing to be by his side, my sister (literally) put her life on hold—and spent the next several months willing

him back to health. Reading to him, holding his hand and telling him he wasn’t done here yet. Her belief was because he had experienced such trauma and abandonment as a child, he NEEDED to fully recover and feel the pure love that she knew existed for him.

During the last nine years, not only did Dave make a full recovery, he has been the 3rd roommate in the home shared by Lisa and her self-described soul mate, Raffi. If you want to see pure love in action, all you need to do is watch them interact. Their relationship is not one that most people can relate to—in fact, most find it unbelievable. But if you know my sister and if you know Raffi, this arrangement is completely in line with how they live their lives. Both of these Earth Angels have sacrificed their time, their energy, their money and their livelihoods in order for Dave to feel and know this incredible love.

It is now 2022, and Dave’s miraculous journey is coming to an end. He has been in the care of hospice, spending each day in the living room of their home that the three of them have shared for years. Surrounded by the love of Lisa, their daughters (Lena and Ela), Raffi, Marco (Lena’s amazing partner), Kai (Dave’s surrogate son) and countless friends who make the difficult journey to say goodbye to a man who’s larger than life.

Literally putting their lives on hold for the past nine years has come with high costs and heavy burdens. Paying for end-of-life care, preparing for cremation and funeral costs (which runs approximately $2,000), not to mention basic needs for rent, food and utilities. These costs, compounded by the fact that Dave will no longer be able to contribute, have created a level of anxiety we have not seen until now. Lisa’s writing work has now been put on hold to care for Dave full-time, as well as both her daughters dropping everything to travel here and help with his all-encompassing, full-time care at an overwhelming cost. The cost of $4,000 per month for rent and utilities is simply something they cannot cover—and this is where you all come in—neither Lisa nor Raffi would EVER ask for help, but they sure do need it. If you have even $5 to donate, I know it would make a huge difference for all of them.

So, we humbly ask, in the name of pure love, to donate whatever you can. Love, Dave and Lisa’s Family ❤️