John Turner Memorial Fund

John was truly unique! He was an amazing artist in the video games industry, working on many popular AAA titles. He was truly my best friend, he fulfilled so many roles in my life. We spent all of our time together outside of our work schedules, and we only grew closer because of it. He carried me through the hardest times of my life, and he gave me the best years of my life. We met via Match, and on our very first date, we talked like we had known each other for years. My first husband died by suicide the year before I met John, so I carried some extraordinary baggage, but he never let it affect our relationship. "I love you more than anything," he would say. I could always count on him - everyone could count on him!

In May of 2015, John went to see a neurologist because the left corner of his mouth began to droop and he had trouble speaking clearly. An MRI showed two tumor masses in the right frontal lobe. After a biopsy, it was determined he had terminal stage-4 brain cancer, Glioblastoma. He fought valiantly and continued to live his life to the fullest, even after 4 craniotomies in under a year! He was heroic in countless ways, and lived life on his own terms. He wouldn't give in to the cancer. We all stood by him - his medical teams at Cedars-Sinai and Swedish, his family, and his "work" family at Treyarch.

Thinking we had more time, we moved back to the place where we met, our beloved Seattle. We managed to purchase a condo with what little we had left in savings - we wanted to fit everything in that we could! Sadly, he was diagnosed with an inoperable tumor in September 2016 and passed away in late December. We both wanted a home, and I'm relieved that we were able to have a place where John felt comfortable in his last days.

I am asking for donations to help with my current expenses, as our savings were wiped out with the moves and medical expenses over the years. I am looking for work, but I have run out of time: at the end of this month I will be broke and forced to sell our home. I figured I would have a job by this time, but it did not pan out. I actually thought I wouldn't be in a place where I would have to ask for help! Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away 10 days after John, and since she raised my sister and I, it was a devastating double-loss. I spent most of January in Texas with family, which shortened my time in locating work.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story.

Neither John nor I used Facebook, but you can see his amazing artwork at his website, johnturner3d.com.