Help Kim Get to Florida! (Bucket List Item)

Hi Everyone.

As many of you know, my mother has been fighting against her luekemia diagnosis since April 2019. It has been a struggle and we've had many up and down moments. As we progress into the craziness that is 2021 and what may well be my mother's final year of her life, we are doing our best to get a major item on her bucket list ticked off.

Our hope is to rent a sprinter van and bring my mom down to Florida to visit her brother and his new wife. It also means sunshine and all the seafood she can eat (her favorite is cod and shrimp!) We need your help to take this family trip with her so she enjoy a week with her family in the closest version of paradise we can give her.

Every dollar will go directly to this trip and anything left over will go to her medical and life needs. The sprinter van will be approximately $800 and the Airbnb will be another $1200-$1500. Add in gas and food, and we're well over $2500 so every penny helps.

We are aiming for the last week of June. Any help in getting us there would be appreciated.

Little bit about my mom: My mom, Kim, just turned 57. She has four kids - Melissa, Jessica, Rachael and James. She also has two amazing grandchildren Emma and Anthony. She currently lives with her parents in Ansonia who are doing their very best to provide her with amazing care and a loving home. Just prior to her diagnosis, my mom discovered a job with a fantastic purpose - working with adults with disabilities. She absolutely loved the folks she worked with there and I think if she wasn't diagnosed, that would have been her calling. She is also a huge Supernatural fan and loves all things "mystical." She has a huge heart and gives it to everyone she meets. 

My mom was diagnosed in April 2019. After a heavy family meeting at my grandmothers house, we all jumped into proactive mode and did our best to get her the care we could. After innumerable rounds of chemo, a clinical trial involving a stem cell transplant, spinal biopsies, and far too many days in a hospital to count, we are finally at the point where she is just living our her life best she can with the assistance of the amazing doctors at Yale.

The last time we took a family vacation might have been back in 1999. We want to make sure that during the remainder of the time she has, that there is at least one family trip in there - especially with her grandkids. We haven't taken a family trip of this kind, or anything close to it, so this will be a memorable trip for all of us. We want to bring her down, get her some sunshine, treat her to some amazing seafood, and have her feel like she got a vacation she deserved with the family she loves.

To note - if you cannot donate financially, please feel free to send cards or best wishes or anything you desire to PO Box 375, Branford, CT 06405 or you can find her pretty easily on Facebook. Cards and notes really brighten up my mother's day and you are welcome to send these at any time. We know that times are tough with COVID, so we appreciate the support that is coming from everyone on every level. Without all of you, none of this would be possible. 

Please feel free to share this so we can give my mom at least one item off her bucket list. We love you all and appreciate your help!