This isn’t a letter I ever thought I would have to write. But here we are……

My good friend and old classmate, Peter Harbic, took a terrible fall down the stairs in his home last Christmas Eve. His 13 year old son William, found him, on the landing, unable to move. He had a spinal cord injury that has left him in a chair, paralyzed from the shoulders down. Yesterday he went home for the first time, after six months in the hospital trying to re-hab. I went to see him late afternoon on Monday because I knew Tuesday, going home day, and was going to be a big day, for him, for his wife and for his three children.

When I arrived I asked him if I could get him anything and interestingly he said “Yeah, a hamburg and a coke”. So off I went to Five Guys and came back with the requisite bag of grease and a coke. As I put it down Peter said “Sorry I can’t reach my wallet” “No problem, I got it” I immediately responded, but I had missed the joke, of course he couldn’t reach his wallet, he can’t reach his wallet, he can’t pick it up, he can’t pick up anything, he’s paralyzed.

We laughed at his joke and then he said, “Now comes the good part, you get to feed me”. I was happy to.

Peter was excited to finally be going home, but he was nervous too, I could tell. He has nine and thirteen year old boys and Audrey his eleven year old daughter, and I bet they were nervous as hell too. Jennifer, Peter’s wife, must have been beside herself. Everybody was nervous, who wouldn’t be.

Peter’s needs are substantial, and I am asking you to help. Covid decimated his business and it is difficult to say now, what role he will be able to assume in rebuilding it. But we do know his needs aren’t going away. He will need “in home” care every day, always, to feed him, to dress him, to toilet him, to bathe him, …. every single day. It is too much to ask of one’s spouse. He has reno’d the house, and is checking out a refitted vehicle for travel. He will never drive again, but he needs a van to accommodate the chair.

Peter’s needs are substantial, but so also are his family’s.

His children will need money for their academic futures. Most of us are past those years of putting kids through “uni” so you know what it costs. I need not itemize all of his needs to impress upon you the magnitude or seriousness of the situation. And we need your help.

I am sure everyone of us gives generously of our time and finances to a number of very worthwhile charitable causes, but this is different.

Peter can’t pull out his wallet, so I am asking you to pull out yours, be grateful you can, and help Peter and his family in a very meaningful way.

What is money for, if you can’t help a friend (and his family) when they truly need it.

Jeff White