Dear friends, family and internet strangers,

 

I wanted to share with you the story of my dear friend, Delores. Over 10 years ago, Delores and I met while we worked together at a well-known Canadian retail store. We worked countless hours together and got to know one another in both a personal and professional capacity. In working with Delores, I came to admire and respect her. She worked harder than anyone I knew. She would leave home close to two hours early to catch a series of buses that took her to Markville Mall to then work an 8+ hour shift and then take that same bus route back home. She did this for years.

 

Delores is a single mom to a wonderful, energetic and kind-hearted 13 year old. I often wondered how she managed to do it all with a three-year-old (at that time), leaving him with a babysitter or friend so that she could go to work and provide for him. I didn’t realize how much Delores sacrificed in order to be at work. Despite leaving retail, Delores and I kept in touch over the years, sharing in the highs and lows of life.

 

Delores has been battling cancer for almost 9 years. In 2013, Delores was first diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiation. After 6 years of what seemed like positive results, Delores began having pain on the right side of her chest and in January of 2020, after a visit with her physician, it was confirmed that she had stage 4 breast cancer. The cancer has spread (metastasized) to her lungs and bones (including her spine, ribs, pelvis and skull). Delores has undergone several sessions of both chemotherapy and radiation and is still scheduled for more chemotherapy. Due to this prognosis, her oncologist has placed her on palliative care with no date on or if she can return to work.

 

For those of you who know Delores, you know that she is kind-hearted, compassionate and resilient. I have never known Delores to ask for help. At times, I think that word is not part of her vocabulary. As a friend, knowing her cancer journey and how much she has endured, I wanted to establish a GoFundMe to alleviate some of the financial burdens Delores is under.

 

The money raised through this page will help cover medical costs and recovery and give Delores and her son much-needed breathing space to focus on what truly matters - spending as much time together as possible, staying strong-minded and healing. Whether you can donate a little, a lot or somewhere in between, every bit counts, and we want to thank you for that.

 

All proceeds will be directly withdrawn by Delores who is the sole beneficiary of this campaign. We are setting the initial goal at $20,000.00. 

NOTE: For those of you would like to send e-transfers directly to Delores, her email address is [email redacted] 

 

Thank you for reading Delores’s story.