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My name is Richard Denton and we have a lovely family. My wife, Chasity Denton, and I have been married for 27 years, and we have a wonderful son, Braden. He is 26 years old. My wife was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease about seven years ago, which is a terminal illness. It has really taken over our life quickly this last year and a half or so. I had to quit my job and be home full-time with her, unpaid, which is strange because I’ve been working full-time for the past 32 years. For the last 25 years, I’ve been a Veterinary Technician, but now I’m an unemployed caregiver for my wife full-time. My wife’s Social Security disability is our only income, and it’s $1604 a month, which doesn’t even cover our mortgage payment. We are currently $10,000 behind on our mortgage. As for our other bills, not including $70,000 in medical bills, which I’m not even going to think about trying to pay off right now, our most important bills are utilities that are going to shut off: our water, power, garbage, cell phone, Internet, and television. All those are behind several months and add up to about $5000. We’re in the process of trying to sell our home that we love and have lived in for the last 10 years. We were going to grow old in this house, but now we obviously can’t because my wife is dying and we’re too far behind on our mortgage payment. We’re not going to be able to save it, so we’re going to have to sell it. I would like to get it paid at least close to up to date so we don’t lose it in foreclosure before it sells. I’m asking for anybody’s help; it would be greatly appreciated. Even if you could put a dollar in, anything helps. It’s extremely hard because we’re not the kind of family that asks for help, so it took me a while to begin to try to ask for help from anyone. It’s just mind-boggling that we even have to think about this at this stage of our life. It’s very sad. It’s just devastating for all of us. I made a promise to my wife to stay with her and take care of her when she got sick, and as for almost every other spouse out there, it would not even be able to stick around for this. It’s nearly impossible to live your life. I’m sticking by her side because I love her and I promised her, so anything you can help with would be great, and we really do appreciate it. We need the water turned back on and need it to stay on. The house has to be sold without worrying about the thought of it being taken away. It’s just devastating. As for the Internet and cable, that’s good for emergency purposes only, really, and our phones, and then a little bit of entertainment for Chasity. I don’t even watch TV anymore; it’s too stressful trying to deal with everything on my own. So thank you guys for your time and helping us with your heart. If you can’t donate, that’s fine; even a word of encouragement is greatly appreciated. Thank you!!




