Hurricane relief for Jackson

My name is Robyn Cristi (Popailo) and I was in contact with Mike Holmes (Jackson) throughout the hurricane. Mike , his wife Julie and his daughters, Samantha and Alyssa went through a traumatic ordeal with the hurricane. Mike and his family were hit financially , physically and emotionally. The following are Mike's words. He would appreciate anything that you can help him with. Every penny counts.

First and foremost I want to thank all you guys/gals who sent prayers, well wishes, positive thoughts, advice, feedback and whatever other was sent to my girls and I during Hurricane Irma and in my case "overwhelming" experience .

Now that the power is back, it's just the beginning of what will be a hopefully short but very tough road back to where we were before Irma .

Even before Irma life was as normal as expected I guess . I mean we as families or individuals all go through things in life right ?

Some positive and some negative right ?

Before Irma came knocking at the door, our family life was adventurous to say the least ... Haha

Most of you didn't know that my beautiful and brave wife Julie Brown , mother to my two incredible daughters Samantha and Alyssa was battling breasts cancer that she was diagnosed with in late 2016 .

I never really had said or posted anything about it because of course it was a private matter and well I was doing the best I could to help her get through it . Sometimes I passed in helping her, and sometimes I failed .

I didn't know much about cancer but now I do, and Im still learning by watching what Julie went through this year with her chemotherapy and treatment and continues to go through everyday since . Obviously she wasn't working much and in some cases wasn't able to work at all . Thankfully her job was supportive and has always kept her position for Julie when she's healthy enough to get back to work . But financially and personally to date for us it's been tough to say the least .

This Wednesday the 20th she will be going into surgery and hopefully it's a success and she recovers like the the strong woman I have known and been with for close to 25 years now . I know she will "and I love ya baby"

Also very few of you all knew that as of September 7th almost two weeks ago I became a grandfather "Yikes, still gettin used to that word" ... Lol

And almost all of you didn't know that because I never posted anything about it and I also really wasn't to terms with Samantha getting pregnant at first, but the fiery and determined young woman she has always been proved me wrong and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Journey ... "Don't Stop Believin"

I know Samantha will become as great mom to my little granddaughter . And I can't wait to be able to be more involved as a grandpa ... "I love you Sam"

I'm so proud of Alyssa I have to say . At 11 years old that girl doesn't even seem fazed . She has been my rock through this, and will continue to be ... "I love you Pistol"

My job driving for a living can be exciting and rewarding at times . But it's a seasonal type job here and the summer months basically from May - October are always a struggle . And with all that's gone on this year in our family, driving has been kinda my therapy for this thing called life, and I just do what I gotta do for my girls .

Then comes Irma into our lives and takes what little sanity and possessions I already did have, and is definitely gonna also take a while to get back . But of course I"m a tough guy and again I'll do what I gotta do to make sure the girls and I get back to some sort of normalcy . But right now I'm definitely broken mentally, and after losing 15 pounds from the mental stress, sweating, lack of sleep, and not eating, I'm literally and physically sick . But if Julie can make it through ten times worse so far, I'll recover .

Lots of water damage, loss of some furniture, lots of clothes, some electronics, carpet, bedding ... etc

Not to mention having to use what money we did have including rent money to prepare for Irma . Infact we've already have received late notices via email for rent, car payment, insurance, medical bills, etc . Ya know just to add insult to injury . Also even though Julie's insurance covers her treatments and surgery, only covers some of her meds .

You guys know what I'm talking about . Especially those of you who have went through situations with storms in the past and even in life in general . Life can be adventurous and a challenge .

I like to say ... "Life can be like a movie"

There's can be Drama, Suspense, Comedy, Family, Romance, Horror, Disaster, and even more I'm sure . My life has been always more of the positive films thank goodness .

As of 11 days ago it's been the worst of the worst and I'm not even gonna sugarcoat it because you guys know I don't do that's not my style . And I've always been prideful . But today I put my pride aside and ask for whatever you can offer .

Needless to say, I could use your help .

Again thanks for everything brothers and sisters !

Love ya guys !!!

Please donate anything you can

Robyn Cristi (Popailo)