From Ray:
I met Curtis shortly after I moved back to Albuquerque 5 1/2 years ago and we moved in with each other pretty quickly. Within a week of our first date I took my mom to see him perform with the Gay Men’s Chorus. Curtis was so kind and generous with everyone he knew. We raised chickens and adopted 3 dogs together. We started the process to become foster parents for older kids. We dreamed of retiring to Mexico someday.
I did respite care for families when we first got together. Curtis was running his counseling practice. Due to episodes of Bipolar Disorder, I had to stop working and prioritized my mental health. My Bipolar was treatment resistant, and after 30 ineffective ECT treatments and subsequent episodes of anxiety and depression, Curtis took amazing care of me, supported me, and paid for all my healthcare expenses until I got insurance.
Unfortunately as I was getting better, Curtis became ill and started becoming less mobile. Due to his illness, he couldn’t drive, do his own shopping or take care of our home. He was on oxygen the past two years, then for 6 months he had a tracheotomy that required a lot of care. All the while he continued to provide psychotherapy to his clients.
We took good care of each other the entire time we were together.
The last 2 months of his life we lived on a small amount of money I inherited when my mom died in December. It feels like I’ve been grieving since December of 2020. This loss has been profound and I know so many others are grieving Curtis, too.
Once I sell my mom’s house I’ll have money to live on for a while, but in the meantime I have monthly bills as well as expenses in order to sell the house.
My goal is to raise $3000:
$1000 for July rent
$700 health expenses
$300 for utilities, home expenses
$1000 costs to ready my mom's house for sale: painting, repairs, utilities
It's difficult to ask for help, and I greatly appreciate your support. Once the house is sold I hope to pay that support forward.
-Ray
This fundraiser is being managed by Molly Adler. All donations will go directly to Ray Legans, Curtis’s surviving partner.