Help Josh, Felicia, and Annie
Why do bad things happen to good people? This is a question that will never be answered but I will continue to ask. Meet my friends Felicia, Josh, and Annie. They are good people. Some of the best, in fact, in my opinion! Felicia and I have known each other since elementary school but our friendship story is for another time. Just trust me when I say that Felicia means the world to me and when her world is crumbling, that means part of mine is too. That’s just how our friendship works.
Several years ago, Felicia was so excited to introduce me to her new love interest, Josh. The moment I met him I knew two things: 1) he loves antiquing 2) he was head over heels in love with Felicia. I instantly gave my friendship stamp of approval and knew these two were the real deal. And I was right! Three years ago Josh and Felicia welcomed their red headed bundle of joy, Annie. Josh immediately hopped right into the Disney dad role (this is absolutely required if you want to be a part ofthe O’Brien family) and has been an incredible dad to his little girl.
As we all know, COVID-19 threw a wrench in a lot of people’s lives and the Roubenik family was no different. Josh has a heart condition that makes him very high risk if he were to contract COVID-19. This meant the family could not take any risks with exposure and while Felicia’s line of work allowed her to telework, Josh’s did not. So, for the last year he has become a wonderful stay at home dad to Annie. While this was the best and safest solution for the family, this obviously meant a loss of income.
Fast forward to January 2021 when Josh was experiencing unbearable pain and was unable to get help for an unacceptable amount of time. Please feel free to read about that debacle on Josh’s caringbridge website.
Now, the long awaited reason this Go Fund Me was established: Josh has since been diagnosed with an aggressive form of testicular cancer that has spread to lymph nodes, lungs, stomach, and liver. He begins his chemo treatment on Monday. Remember the loss of income I mentioned earlier? That’s where this comes into play. Not only will there be medical expenses associated with this treatment, but there are also additional costs like gas money to get to and from North Branch to Maplewood for chemo, money spent towards ready to prepare meals (think something like Schwanns as Josh was the main cook due to Felicia’s work schedule), additional things they may find they need to help with Josh’s pain or make life easier for him in any way (heating pads, heated blankets, body pillows, etc). Helping relieve some financial burden would also help with any added stress that comes along with this diagnosis.
Thank you for your donation!