Help Us Make a Family's Dream Come True!

 

Please read this story!

Eighteen years ago, my wife Rhonda and I bought a home in a beautiful ancient village, Roccantica, Italy. We have formed meaningful and loving relationships with many of the residents there.

This story is about our dear friend, whom we call our ‘fratello’, Claudio Bernabei, his wonderful wife Francesca, and their two children, Andrea and Chiara. We want to help them take a trip of a lifetime, the opportunity to come to America, experience its beauty, and the crazy-wonderful-world of Disney in Florida! Three years ago, on October 8th, Claudio was stricken with a cancerous brain tumor.

 

Our goal is to raise $11,500 to bring Claudio and his family to the US to spend a week at Disney World. Would you please join us to raise the funds so that Claudio and his family can take a trip of a lifetime? Please help us realize Claudio’s dream trip. He has been through a lot in the past three years!

In Claudio’s words (translated):

“I was coming home for lunch, I parked the car, opened the gate....and this is the last thing I remember. I opened my eyes to all the neighbors around me, Francesca crying, a doctor friend of mine was talking to me, and the ambulance had already arrived… The world collapsed on me, the only words I was able to pronounce to the doctor who was later explaining the MRI report to me were "doctor I have two children ....".

I was hospitalized on November 26th for a nine-hour surgery to fully remove the tumor. To minimize the chance of it returning, I underwent 33 rounds of radiation therapy, and had chemotherapy for a year (12 cycles, one every 4 weeks). It was not easy, for me and for those who were by my side. Obviously, the memory of this very bad experience will not leave me, but I will never forget the strength and firmness of my father, the sweetness of my mother, the courage of my brother and above all the loving smile of Francesca, my wife, who daily instilled courage in me, especially in moments of greatest despair.

Finally, I will never forget the explanation that Chiara gave about my scar "Dad broke his head, he hit the table” . And I had broken capillaries in my eyes from the seizure; my son Andrea said with pride to his friends: "My father has red eyes, he has superpowers!!"

 

What Claudio thinks about the most is not himself, but his children. There is one thing he has always longed to do, which was to give them the gift that he received as a child: a trip to America’s Disney World. As a young boy, Claudio and his family visited Disneyland during one of his father’s business trips to the US. It is a story he has happily recounted to us many times. They love America!

Their son, Andrea, became fascinated with Disney movies at an early age. He knows many of them by heart and has greatly expanded his English language skills by watching the movies (His favorite is Shark Tale). So, Claudio’s dream for his children has become the children’s dream, and ours.

We are starting the fundraising with a $1000 donation of our own and will give a one week stay at our home in Roccantica for any donation of $250 or more. This would make a great gift or something you can enjoy at your leisure!

thanks,

Lee deLisle