“But for the grace of God…”

On Wednesday, October 23, 2024, my dear friend Steve was ending preparations to say goodbye to the old moored boat on which he had spent the summer in Amesbury, Massachusetts, with his beloved little dog, Mariah, and like many New Englanders, head to warmer climes. The last year and a half had been tough; in 2023 he was struck with a debilitating illness, and while he eventually recovered, he, like many of us in our older years, was finding it harder to get around, harder to stay healthy, harder to drive and, in this crippling economy, harder to make ends meet. But as a man of great spiritual faith, wisdom and optimism, he was never one to complain and went out of his way to make others smile, whether it was with a song he’d composed on his harmonica – “written just for you!” – with lyrics changed each time to include the name of the person he was singing it to, calling a friend who was having a hard time, telling a colorful joke, enthusiastically describing his passionate program to deter kids from starting drugs (and saving them if they already had), teaching people how to sail, finding little treasures to give as funny gifts from stuff others had left at the side of the road, and just plain enriching the life of anyone who was lucky enough to not only know him, but to call him friend.

On this particular Wednesday, Steve needed to perform a quick errand and had no choice but to leave little Mariah behind. The marina at which he’d spent the summer on the old boat, never firing up the engine, never taking it anywhere but just calling it home, was shuffling boats around to prepare for season’s end. Steve didn’t plan to be gone long, and he wasn’t – but it was long enough for the marina to call him with the horrifying news that nobody, ever, ever wants to hear – that his home, the old boat, was on fire.

Emergency services arrived, but the boat could not be saved, and neither could little Mariah, who was found within the wreckage early the following morning. Rescued by Steve several years earlier, she had been his constant companion, and, in the words of his son, “his life.” For anyone who is an older person living alone, a beloved companion animal keeps them going and is often their only source of company in a world that grows lonelier, scarier, and more uncertain every year. Steve didn’t just lose his dog – he lost a family member, and for any of us who have lost a family member to horrifying, tragic circumstances, we can well imagine the devastation, the agony, the anguish and the unrelenting pain that Steve, now 80 years old, is feeling. Mariah was everything to him.

As if this heartbreak isn’t enough, Steve, who lives on a fixed income, is now being asked to come up with an immediate $6000 to remove the boat from the marina’s parking lot and dispose of it. This cost includes obtaining a dumpster, demolishing and scrapping the boat, and removing it from the property. Steve doesn’t have the funds for such a massive and unexpected expense, and is so devastated by shock, guilt and grief over little Mariah that the very idea of trying to come up with the funds is more than he can bear.

We are all called to help each other in this often cruel and viciously unfair world, and as a longtime friend of Steve, I, with the permission of his family, have organized this Go Fund Me so that he can meet these unexpected expenses and try to move on from what has been an unspeakable tragedy. Life is hard enough for an elderly person without having to go through something like this, and while nothing can bring Mariah back, at least we can ease this dear man’s heavy financial burden by pulling together and showing him that he is loved. That people care. When you’re in the throes of guilt over an unfortunate and devastating accident, you need to know that you are still loved. That people still care. Because during those times it can be awfully darned hard to still love yourself.

I hope that you will thoughtfully and prayerfully consider helping a good person out. Life has kicked him hard … let’s all help him get back on his feet.

With huge appreciation for your kindness and generosity,

Danelle Gatcombe, his friend