Elderly Widow Needs Help

Our parents have been married for 57 years. 26 days after their 57th anniversary, our Momma passed away at their home in Virginia. She was 79 and just as beautiful as ever.

She had been in the hospital for 17 days surrounded by family 24/7 and was released into hospice care at home. She passed away less than 8 hours after returning home. She had congestive heart failure and had just had 7 stents put in her heart to improve blood flow. I believe she had over exerted herself trying to get comfortable. Being the independent woman she was she didn’t want our help. My guess is that because they didn’t allow her to do anything on her own in the hospital, she just wanted to do something for herself. I watched her grab her left arm and ran to get my brother who was sleeping in the basement. When we got back upstairs we tried to get her comfortable. The second we realized she was not breathing my Daddy called 911 and my brother performed CPR on her while being coached by the 911 operator until EMS arrived.

We watched helplessly for 20+ minutes as they did everything in their power to resuscitate her - as per her wishes - but were unsuccessful. We surrounded her and held her hands for 2 hours while we waited for funeral home transport to take her. I don’t think I’ve cried so hard in my entire life while we all tried to say goodbye in our own ways and that we loved her very much, but she was long gone by then. I did not realize just how much this would hurt. I feel as though a piece of me is forever gone.

As is the case with many senior citizens these days, my parents lived on social security alone - an extremely fixed income - that barely allowed them able to live comfortably even with our monthly contributions. Now that my Daddy has lost her social security benefit, his situation is that much worse. We, his children and our respective spouses, help as much as we can every month but it’s rarely enough to cover all the medical costs one incurs with aging.

Momma passed at their home and Daddy cannot bear to live there any longer with the memories of her final moments so vivid. As her daughter, I can’t even bear to go to the level of the house where the bedrooms are and where she took her final breaths, so that makes this space that much more unlivable.

So what I’m asking is for help with his moving costs in addition to the funeral costs that are quickly piling up and we haven’t even buried her yet. She is being laid to rest on October 17th.

I have to believe that despite all this pain and suffering that there is a way to get my Daddy not only located near one of his children who can help with taking him to doctors appointments and procedures, aid in helping him pay the medical bills from my Momma being in the hospital for just over half a month, but also - and most important - be near his bride who will be buried in the Army base they met 60 years ago in Texas.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story, that alone means the world to my family. If you are able, please help in any way you can. Anything we all give is more than he had and that helps beyond measure.