Help Julie and Alvin navigate cancer expenses

"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another." ~ Luciano De Crescenzo

There is no better way for me to describe my mother than an angel on earth. Over her life, she has touched so many people in so many ways, giving generously of her time, energy, love and care to each person she came into contact with. She has dealt with chronic pain and many progressive diseases for almost 30 years, but she never let her conditions cause her to treat anyone unkindly, and she always thought about what she could do for others to encourage them to be all they could be. To know my mother is to be witness to an extraordinary, selfless person without a thought for herself as she gives to others. So many have benefitted from her, and now we hope that you will embrace her in her time of need.

Just a few weeks ago, we learned that my mom's breast cancer from 2014 had returned, and with a vengeance, metastasizing to over a dozen different tumors in the bone, as well as several appearing on the surface of her skin, and progressing rapidly. Last week the doctors told us, much to our dismay, that she may have as little as three months to live, and that her best option is to pursue palliative care instead of treatment to allow her some quality of life during this difficult time. As you can imagine, this has been a shock to our whole family.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking thing about this diagnosis is that through Julie (and her husband - my dad - Alvin's) selfless acts over the years, they have been left with very little to live on in the face of this diagnosis that threatens to drain what little financial resources they do have. Some of these selfless acts have included giving 10 months of their lives caring for her mother after a severe accident (which caused my mom to lose the thriving ESL business she had just built due to the time involved), caring for my severely disabled adopted sister Nakia and giving her an amazing quality of life for nearly 20 years after she wasn't expected to live past the age of 3, providing foster care to several children as well as home-schooling them because they couldn’t attend school due to their disabilities. They have served in several support positions in various churches and on a missions trip to Mexico. Just in general, my parents are generous and loving people who give all they can to others.

In addition to all this, Julie has had more than her share of heartache in life, and even this year, with her mother passing away just a month ago, but despite all this, she continues to meet life with love, acceptance and care for those she comes into contact with, converting her own pain into compassion and love for others.

It pains me to hear Julie talk about how she is stressed about having to work full-time quite literally until the day she dies just to make ends meet, and her worry for Alvin's financial circumstances. He is a fulltime caregiver for Julie, so he can’t leave to go to work right now. Once he is able, he’ll look for work, but as you can imagine it could be hard to find a job at 65 years old.

Even before this change in circumstances, they had put together a strategy to give up their beloved RV life and settle into a modest home in their favorite park in Ruskin, FL because of Julie’s difficulty in navigating life in the motorhome, and to give both of them some stability and reasonable bills in the coming years. With a plan for Julie to continue working full time, they had things all worked out for meeting the cost of the house.

Now with the cancer diagnosis, it is even more important for Julie to physically navigate the difficult days ahead. But those days will also make it more and more difficult for her to work, so even though the cost of their little modest house is only $20,000, the cost feels nearly insurmountable. In addition to this of course, even without treatment being a viable option, the medical bills are coming in from diagnosis, palliative care and the upcoming Hospice care and funeral expenses, plus of course regular living expenses, so we hope that the extra $5,000 will be sufficient to help with these expenses. We hope that if we can reach this minimum amount, that my parents can at least break even for the next few months and breathe a little easier, knowing they won't be in the negative and have their ability to settle into their new house jeopardized by funds.

I know this has been a hard year for many of us, and things may already be tight, but if you have an opportunity to contribute even a small financial gift to help give my parents the meaningful relief of less worry as they navigate this already stressful and trying time, it would be truly appreciated. We want you to know that either way, we so appreciate the outpouring of love and support that we have already received and continue to receive.

If you have a special memory with Julie that you are fond of, we would love to have you share those as well, to give her the gift before her passing of knowing just how much she has touched those around her. And of course, we would greatly appreciate any sharing of this fundraiser to your own networks that you would feel comfortable with, to help us reach our goals. Thank you for anything you can do to help, and know that we appreciate you so much!