Bonnie needs a wheelchair van

Hello, all. Some of you may remember these members, some may not, but they are in great need of our help. Bonnie Roznowski first laid eyes on Jeff Sanden at my Single Friends St. Patty's Day Birthday Bash on March 16, 2008 at the Port of Blarney, and was immediately interested. A few weeks later she noticed he'd signed up for our biggest-ever bash, a Memorial Day picnic at a Libertyville Forest Preserve...for 168 of us! She signed up too, although she was disappointed to see he had RSVP'd with a "Plus 1," and showed up with a woman he seemed very friendly with (who later turned out to be his SISTER--whew!). Later on, we played a wild tag-team game where men lined up on one team holding the rubber portion of a toilet plunger between their legs, heading halfway towards the women's team, where we were holding a roll of toilet paper between ours. The goal was to waddle towards each other without dropping either, then shimmy around in hilarious ways until the plunger rod was inserted into the toilet paper roll...then return to your side and tag the next person. If you think outside the box, you can figure out what we were mimicking...and imagine what great fun it was!

Afterwards, we had all these rolls of perfectly good toilet paper, so Jeff stood up with his arms and legs out, like a scarecrow, and Bonnie started to completely wrap up Jeff (with eventual help from other gals) until he was a very thick mummy in the sun. Jeff emitted his iconic, deep Santa laugh (Ho ho ho! Ho ho ho ho ho!) the entire time.

And that was it. They've been in love and together ever since. Fourteen years now.

Bonnie is a cross between a cool, mod chick and an earth mother. Jeff loves nature and remodeling and building. These are both people who are very good for this world to have in it.

Well over a year ago, Bonnie suffered a very unexpected, very extreme stroke. She was airlifted by Flight for Life from their Lake Geneva home to Milwaukee for the first of many surgeries. Matter was removed from the right side of her brain, so the swelling could expand internally without killing her. In June of last year surgeons inserted a custom-made 3D-printed plate in her skull, along with necessary scalp repairs. She now has been a resident of Lakeland Home Care Center in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, for many months, and for the foreseeable future.

As you can imagine, because all this happened in the midst of COVID-19, they were forcefully separated, a heartbreaking additional anguish for them both (they are not legally married). Although before the stroke their lives (as all of ours) were reduced considerably without restaurants, concerts, socializing and simple travel, Jeff remembers Bonnie saying, "I am SO grateful you are here with me! I can't imagine going through COVID-19 alone." Then the devastating stroke happened.

Jeff visits her EVERY day...ALL day. He stays from opening until closing time, then spends the evening alone in their home. Their savings have been totally depleted long ago. Both have been simple, proud, hard-working people their entire lives, so for Jeff to reach out to me for help is a massive gesture. Jeff was choking back tears as he said, "Bonnie's happiness is essential to my own."

This is the definition of true devotion. Way beyond just love.

Bonnie cannot move around on her own, so Jeff's dream for her is to buy a used, wheelchair-accessible van, so she can occasionally escape the care center, so he can take her out for a summer drive, maybe a wheelchair-viewing of the local zoo, lunch at an outdoor cafe, and perhaps even fireworks on the 4th of July.

He's priced these out, and an adequate, dependable model can be purchased for about $12,000. Jeff has started a GoFundMe account, and is hopeful and grateful for any and all donations. As I often donate to these accounts for strangers I read about in the news, I of course donated to this one, for two people I know and care about.

Whether or not you remember Jeff and Bonnie, I'm asking you consider helping them out. On top of everything all of us have already endured these past two years, can you imagine adding in the trauma, anxiety and pain of what they have gone through, on top of it all?

Here's the link: https://www.gofundme....­ . My prayers are with them, and Jeff and I are both hoping you can help out too. God bless you.

Patty