Help Max & Brooke get through Tragic Loss

This is a photo of Courtney, Brooke, and Maxwell... taken almost a year ago. Max and Courtney have been together for 7 years... they met at work, and as she began losing vision due to her juvenile diabetes, he became her unpaid caregiver. As her health continued to deteriorate, he was allowed to work from home, giving him the freedom to work between doctor's visits and surgeries. In the past couple of years, he helped through the night with at-home dialysis. But between all the medical stuff, they had a great time! They loved playing D&D with a couple of groups in their home.

They love animals, and he has a special connection with any animal he meets.

Their house is full of cats (5) and 2 dogs (pics to be added)... cats that are old or sick. One with diabetes, one with feline AIDS. Courtney recently found a little pitbull puppy that was covered in fleas. And I mean covered! Max keeps one credit card just for pet care. It's not even near being paid.

Ten months ago, Courtney was given temporary custody of her 8-year-old half-sister after the child's mother suffered a mental health event.

With Courtney mostly in bed, all the child's needs were met by Max. He's taught her how to do her laundry, get ready for school, the importance of telling the truth, and how to be a good friend. He put a ladder in the front yard so she and a neighbor friend could climb whenever they wanted. He takes her to visit her mom and to therapy. Family services had approved his home and his general safety to be with the child, but temporary custody was with Courtney alone.

This past Sunday, July 6th, Courtney suffered a catastrophic brain bleed while Max was out picking up dinner and little sister Brooke was getting ready for bed. I'll share the story Maxwell posted to Facebook:

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Today was the worst day of my life.

Last night at 8:30, Courtney asked me to go get her some pasta salad from the filling station and a Coke Zero from the teeter.

At 8:45ish, she had an aneurysm and began vomiting.

I arrived back home at 8:58 to find EMS taking her away and my neighbors freaking out having just resuscitated her.

I went to the hospital, where they told me after some time that Courtney had suffered a pretty large brain bleed, and that it was inoperable and unsurvivable.

Since then, I have been reaching out to family and friends and making arrangements. Many, many people came to see her last night and today, and at 6:58 tonight, she passed away surrounded by people who love her.

If you didn’t get to say goodbye and wanted to, I’m sorry I didn’t give you that chance. Courtney was the love of my life and the most wonderful person I’ve ever met. The seven years we spent together were the most full and lovely years of my life, and because of her, I am the man I am today.

So in the comments here, I know I’ll get a lot of condolences, but if you really want to make my day better, I’d like to see everyone’s favorite memories of my beautiful wife.

I know this is sudden, it happened really fast to all of us. Please be patient with me as you reach out, as I know I’ll be easily overwhelmed.

I’ll end on this:

Courtney Kennedy was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I’ll miss her until the day I die.

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What I'm asking for is help. Not sure how long he'll be out of work while he reorganizes his life. He's needing to put together a celebration of life. He's not sure if he's responsible for her bills, but they're significant. He'll instantly miss her disability payment contribution to the household. And his renter moved out at the beginning of the month. He's in need of lawn care. He's in need of easy-to-prepare meals. He's in need of having that credit card paid so he can continue taking care of these sick pets without the huge financial burden. He needs money to make ends meet for a few months... or 6. And here it is 2 days after her passing, and he's already worked with family services this morning to continue with temporary custody of the child. His goal is to reunite her with her mom in a slow and healthy way... and maybe a couple of visits a year for him.

So I'm asking for help for this really neat 30-year-old man... my boy... who is trying to do things right in the face of tragedy.