for David Surette

Hi I'm Paul Greenspan and, like so many musicians here in New England, (and indeed across the USA, France & Italy and beyond) I have learned so much from David Surette. I've learned about playing the mandolin, about what notes to play and what notes not to play, about finding joy in each other and in our musical community. His teaching, his performances, his boundless optimism and good naturedness, and his friendship have enriched so many of our lives. He and his family give so much to so many.

David was first diagnosed with cancer in October 2015. It has been in multiple locations since the beginning, and he has been treating it with a variety of approaches since that initial diagnosis: several surgeries, multiple rounds of radiation, and a couple of different rounds and types of chemotherapy.

Recently the disease has progressed to the point where he is going to have to stop performing and teaching, at least for a while, to fully focus on treatment and healing. David & Susie shared the following recently:

"We would like to ask for something we have asked for in the past and which has been so helpful. We would love you all to send all the love and healing energy you can to David, and to those caring for him. I (Susie) always say, "bless those drugs", by which I mean both bless the fact that they exist and have given help to David, and also, let us all BLESS the drugs and imbue them with our love and blessings so they can do their best for him. So this week as we embark on the next chapter, please send all the love, prayers, strength and encouragement you can to David, his team, his medications, and we Burke girls could use a little love, too. We are not out of tricks yet; nor is David's wonderful team at Wentworth Douglass, led by the wonderful doc we met at the start of this journey and who has been a friend throughout this process, Dr. Henry Sonneborn."

With David's teaching and performances on hold, this GoFundMe campaign has the aim of helping with the economic challenges of his health care journey. All funds raised go directly to David (less the modest program fees from GoFundme: https://www.gofundme.com/c/pricing#US)