Time to Come Home

George.
"My father is the kind of father I wish for everybody; he gave his time, his funds and his heart to so many parts of his life.  Whether it be a community he worked in, staying the extra hour at work to meet a customers urgent need, or to give his two daughters the opportunity to be whomever they wanted to be. He never put himself first in an equation. Though now, my father needs your help. He was the person available to customers during their best and worst times to celebrate or remember through photography. Whether or not he was aware of this or not, he was adamant about others’ happiness, even if it meant his needs were put aside.  Now, he absolutely needs us, more than ever.  We need your help to get him home and cared for, for four days a week while my mother goes to work. Both my parents could use your help."
- Alison

Please help us complete George's circle of life.
Our family had a successful business in the photofinishing industry, prior to the creation of on-line ordering and the digital age. The latter changed everything, as did a trusted employee’s wrongdoing in stealing a significant amount of funds over time. This was the beginning of the end.  The 60 year business that began from George's father-in-law, saw the remaining funds stretched too thin. The eventual closing of the business after downsizing left my father feeling lost.  My father had gone from serving his community in a very personal way to having it be taken away from him and his family.  His health declined significantly following this occurrence, and now my parents are in need. Now there are simply no funds left to help with our medical bills to keep him comfortable and to reduce the stress of everyday expenses accumulating during my father’s ongoing fight with cancer.

Please consider the strength and dedication it takes to care for someone you love. It is a harder task when you are running out of time, and money. What we want for our loved ones is what we’d want for ourselves - dignity, a sense of place, love and support. With your help and giving, we can help restore some of that to my father. To both my parents. We want to reward my father’s grit with grace. Please give at the link below. We share our thanks gratefully and will pass it on to my father, his fight, his success, his journey. And to my mother, his rock. She could use this help too.

This is a life story here of love and dedication that can end badly or gain some grace with your assistance. My father has had cancer for over two years now, liver cancer that has metastasized to the bone. The cancer is untreatable at this stage. My parents have had good times over the many years and they've had their struggles. They had a successful business for many years in the photo industry...and then, they didn’t. Now, they have abundant love and hope. 

"...As more and more people turned to their phones for their photo needs, my father tried to keep up with every technology available that might keep the business afloat, going into deeper debt and losing ground, and eventually he suffered defeat. But he went out and persevered, landing a job as manager of RadioShack for many years - and we all know how that ended! But persevere he did. He then joined the team at Trader Joe’s but that is when the cumulative stress began to win and his health started failing. Cancer was diagnosed and treated to the extent it could be, but my father took a fall this past Christmas morning and has been bouncing back and forth between the hospital and nursing homes for physical therapy rehab ever since."

Now, it is time for George to come home. My parents are facing extreme choices: home alone (which is not a safe option) while my strong and caring mom continues to work full-time to make ends meet or inpatient hospice, which he is not ready for just yet...and which also feels like the end.


Thank you for your kind support and for listening to our story.

Sincerely and with gratitude,
The McKnight Family

#love #thankyou #traderjoes #RadioShack #FairbanksPhoto