It’s not the destination but the journey

Hi - I am Paula.

With 48 years under my belt, I've worked hard to build a good life for my children & I. I’ve worked hard in my vocation as a social worker, supporting adults with need for care and support. I’ve worked hard supporting those around me that have needed support. And I’ve loved every (well most) single second of it.

My plan had always been that I would work hard to give my kids the best that I could possibly give, and at the point that they became adults then I’d get a bit more selfish and work hard to do the things that I think would make my independent soul sing.

In my fantasies this is buying a camper and spending time travelling this beautiful country that I live in, exploring with my dogs (& children when they find time for mum & friends when the conversation with the dogs grew stale) being as close to the sea as I could get, quilting, crocheting and listening to audiobooks.

In my fantasies this would be as long a cruise as I could afford, seeing as much of the world that the cruise I could afford would allow.

I'd figured I’d start saving for this around my late 40’s and get on the move in my mid 50’s.

So, at the point of my life when I became able to start implementing my selfish plan, I was diagnosed with primary peritoneal cancer (I’d never heard of the peritoneal either before the diagnosis, go google it!) which is not curable. Medically, treatment tends to give a life expectancy of 5 years.

I do hope to buck this trend of course but it seems the years allocated to work hard to save for the fun stuff appear to have gone and I’m in the years where I need to have the fun. Hence this gofundme.

This is a wishes and dreams gofundme and so I do not have any expectations. I didn’t know what goal amount to put, I am saying this as I don’t want you to think I’m greedy with the goal set. If this doesn’t generate enough funds for the fantasies I note, I assure you I will use the funds to do experiences that will make soulful memories to recall in the times when days are dark. If I do purchase anything that is reusable it will be donated to a worthy cause. So the longevity of your kindness and generosity has the potential to be vast.

It is difficult for me to do this as I am fiercely independent but time does not allow for pride.

All of the savings I had have been used to pay bills while I have not been able to work as I am self-employed.

I only have terminal life insurance which will pay out when the life timer says less than 12 month's, by which point I’m guessing my body won’t be up for doing many fun things.

I have already experienced a gruelling period of chemo and just after Christmas underwent major surgery. The next phase is maintenance chemo “until active symptoms return”. Soooooo by the summer of ‘24, I am hoping that I will be in my new ‘normal’ life and physically able to start injecting some fun into the weeks where I won’t be injected with chemotherapy drugs.

To be able to do this I need cold hard cash, I have no other means of accessing this as I haven’t yet found seeds for a money tree soooooooooo here is my VERY cheekie ask of strangers to gofundme. If you do contribute you will be helping me to still make ‘the dash’ between my years as much of what I’d hoped to have made them for myself, had the years around ‘the dash’ not been so drastically shrunk.

Thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity