I'm Gary, and my wife Margie and I have been raising our twin granddaughters since age 5. I was awarded legal custody of them in 2015. They were not diagnosed with Autism and PTSD until they were 17. I became their Power of Attorney on their 18th birthday. They are 19 now. We've been trying to get psychiatric help for four years and hope to get an April start date. Rayven (the youngest twin) started getting SSI in March, but Kyley was denied, and we've been waiting for

a decision on our appeal since July.

Now a new challenge has arrived. Gary is 76 and Margie is nearly 82, so we are already experiencing some of the obstacles of growing old. Naturally, we've known that time is not on our side in fulfilling our intention to prepare them for at least semi-independent life after we're gone, but Gary was diagnosed with Mantle cell lymphoma—an incurable blood cancer. Doctors hope that chemotherapy will buy him time enough to finish what we've already started via medication-induced remissions. We don't know how long I've got, but we're told that "many" patients are able to reach 52 months, but of course, some don't.

The girls regard us as Mom and Dad, and based on their reaction to the death of their great-grandmother—typical prolonged autism meltdowns—we know that the loss of either one of us will probably be catastrophic. We recently came up with the idea of having a companion come in a few hours a week, as many elderly people do, for light cleaning, shopping, etc. The real goal, however, is to select someone they can form close bonds with before either of us passes. Someone who can reinforce what they're learning about doing their share around the house, personal care and so forth. This also buys us time to decide, from a wide range of options, how best to care for them after we're gone.

We hope that getting someone for 3 hours a day for 3 days a week might do it. To raise the $11,700 this will cost us for a year, we'll need financial help. We hope there are folks out there who can understand the seriousness of our situation and want to help.

Kyley and Rayven are sweet and lovable and have been a delight since day one. They are inseparable, and although it may take some time, we believe they can eventually be able to live semi-independently. We've always thought that they are worth it, and we hope that you will think so too!