Bring Lisa Home

Meet Ace and Lisa. These are my parents, but they are also so much more.  Their story is one of love, hardship, perseverance, grit, determination, and much more love. 

Let me fill you in...

1973: A 13-year-old girl is diagnosed with Friedreich's Ataxia, a rare inherited disease that causes nervous system damage and movement problems. (That girl is my mom.) The doctors didn't know anything about this disease and uncouthly explained to her she probably wouldn't live to be 18. 

1980: She lives past 18. She also meets a magician. (That's my dad.) They fall in love. They get married. They have a baby. 

I wish I could say that this is where the fairy tale ends, as fairy tales seem to do, with a cheery and optimisitic,  "And they lived happily ever after..." Which in many regards, they have. But there have also been the parts of the story that make them more than just a fairy tale. The parts that make them an Inspiration. 

I could rattle off all of the hospital visits, the lay-offs my dad faced trying his best to care for a family of four during the Dot-Com bust, the long hours at work, the long commutes, and the general difficulty they have faced everyday for the past 35-years, but I will fast forward a bit and give you the shorter version. 

My mom is now 55-years old (TODAY! HAPPY BDAY MOM!), and she is just being released after a month-long stay in the ICU. She had her second battle with Sepsis (often deadly, infection of the blood). She is a fighter. She is truly, nothing short of incredible. She has kidney failure, Type II Diabetes, Congestive Heart Failure, Atrial Fibrilation... and these are only the ones I can spell. 

My dad is a hair younger than my mom, and he is working hard still, to give my mom the quality of life she deserves. After the many layoffs, he returned to his true passion. The thing that made my mom fall in love with him, I'm sure... Performing. He has spent the last two years working non-stop in an effort to save up money to bring my mom's one dream to life. But with this recent hospitilization, the finances are quickly dwindling. 

My mom wants nothing more than to have a little farm in Sacramento County. She wants to rescue cats (my parents have already started...), perhaps have a goat, a few chickens and a pig. She'd love to have a service dog - something she has needed for many years, that would greatly increase her quality of life. 

I'm setting the goal of this project at $10,000, because that would help my dad offset the losses of this hospital visit. It would help them move and find a place to rent, a safe comfortable place for my mom to live. But in reality, if I'm dreaming big - I'd set this goal at $100,000. Because that would help them purchase some land and a home. And that would give my mom a legacy - that land could become her cat sanctuary, rescuing aging and abandoned cats. 

My mom may not get too many years to enjoy her little farm, so it would be so special to know that she could help create something that would last. Something that could carry on her heart and fight, and give tough kitties a place to rest, as my mom deserves as well. 

This isn't an URGENT fundraiser, except that the sooner the funds are raised, the less financial loss my family will face, as they can start the moving process. 

And truly, I can't explain how much my heart swells just knowing there are people that love my family enough to contribute. Thank you for anything you can contribute, even if that is a share. My family appreciates it.