Help Nat Have a Final Dream Holiday
Donation protected
Hi, my name's Gavin,
While I'm a writer, I'm not very good at this sort of thing - I'm very English, and thus find talking about money a tad embarrassing. However, sometimes needs must, and this is unquestionably one of those times.
My beloved wife Natalie is dying.
She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2018, and faced with a harrowing programme of chemotherapy, brachytherapy, and radiotherapy. Anyone who followed Nat's progress can testify to the humbling levels of grace, grit, and good humour she brought to the fight, and after several long, punishing months her courage was rewarded and she went into remission. Soon, she was ready the slow return to work - Nat is (or was) a nurse at the hospital - a job which she loves and was absolutely born to do.
Sadly, at the start of 2021, we were devastated by a further development. In the chaos of the pandemic, a test revealed that the medics missed a rare type of secondary cancer on her lungs, and this time it was terminal. We don't know how long we have together. One prognosis was that we would be lucky to celebrate Christmas last year. But Nat being Nat (and loving Christmas!) she defied all of the odds, and is still fighting hard.
However she was retired from nursing for ill health - which broke her heart - while I've gradually had to wind my own hours down to part-time in order to care for her as she's become progressively weaker. Her NHS pension is now spent (how do you budget when you don't know how long you have to live?) and as a writer I have never been exactly well off. But I would still like to take her on one last unforgettable holiday. So I'm turning to the generosity and compassion of you all in the hope of raising the funds to do this thing for the woman I love more than anything else.
The ultimate target is to take Natalie to New York either on Halloween or Christmas this year. She's always wanted to visit the Big Apple, and we have treasured friends there who I know will help us find our feet. This is the basis for my monetary calculations. The main cost will be flights. Realistically, we need her to be as comfortable as possible, so business class feels like a necessity. It's hard to find such tickets for under £2000 each for the journey right now. A further thousand pounds should cover Stateside accommodation and food for a long weekend. Is it a fair calculation? I don't know, but everyone I discussed it with advised me to just be honest and ask for what you need.
I say above the that NYC is our ultimate target. Because, frankly, it is impossible to know what position we'll be in in the coming months. Nat's just started a new programme of experimental treatment (the specialists have said any further conventional treatment will do more harm than good). We don't know how Nat will react to this, or at this stage be confident how long it will go on for. Or, bluntly, how long we have. So we can't afford to wait around any longer, and I think Nat needs and deserves something to look forward to during the challenging coming weeks and months.
If New York looks unfeasible, then we'll have to scale back our plans to something Nat can comfortably do. Something closer to home in Europe perhaps? If we need to be even closer to home, then maybe a magical party in a British castle? On the plus side, scaling back on travel should reduce costs, and I propose that if we need to follow this route, any spare funds can contribute to bringing some of our friends and family along.
Because you're the most important thing. The support - and above all love - of everyone throughout this for Nat has been crucial throughout this ordeal. If you can afford to contribute to this appeal at all, I should be eternally grateful. But please, please don't contribute anything you can't afford. Keeping the love for Nat coming through is what really matters.
Thank you for reading this, and wish us luck.
She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2018, and faced with a harrowing programme of chemotherapy, brachytherapy, and radiotherapy. Anyone who followed Nat's progress can testify to the humbling levels of grace, grit, and good humour she brought to the fight, and after several long, punishing months her courage was rewarded and she went into remission. Soon, she was ready the slow return to work - Nat is (or was) a nurse at the hospital - a job which she loves and was absolutely born to do.
Sadly, at the start of 2021, we were devastated by a further development. In the chaos of the pandemic, a test revealed that the medics missed a rare type of secondary cancer on her lungs, and this time it was terminal. We don't know how long we have together. One prognosis was that we would be lucky to celebrate Christmas last year. But Nat being Nat (and loving Christmas!) she defied all of the odds, and is still fighting hard.
However she was retired from nursing for ill health - which broke her heart - while I've gradually had to wind my own hours down to part-time in order to care for her as she's become progressively weaker. Her NHS pension is now spent (how do you budget when you don't know how long you have to live?) and as a writer I have never been exactly well off. But I would still like to take her on one last unforgettable holiday. So I'm turning to the generosity and compassion of you all in the hope of raising the funds to do this thing for the woman I love more than anything else.
The ultimate target is to take Natalie to New York either on Halloween or Christmas this year. She's always wanted to visit the Big Apple, and we have treasured friends there who I know will help us find our feet. This is the basis for my monetary calculations. The main cost will be flights. Realistically, we need her to be as comfortable as possible, so business class feels like a necessity. It's hard to find such tickets for under £2000 each for the journey right now. A further thousand pounds should cover Stateside accommodation and food for a long weekend. Is it a fair calculation? I don't know, but everyone I discussed it with advised me to just be honest and ask for what you need.
I say above the that NYC is our ultimate target. Because, frankly, it is impossible to know what position we'll be in in the coming months. Nat's just started a new programme of experimental treatment (the specialists have said any further conventional treatment will do more harm than good). We don't know how Nat will react to this, or at this stage be confident how long it will go on for. Or, bluntly, how long we have. So we can't afford to wait around any longer, and I think Nat needs and deserves something to look forward to during the challenging coming weeks and months.
If New York looks unfeasible, then we'll have to scale back our plans to something Nat can comfortably do. Something closer to home in Europe perhaps? If we need to be even closer to home, then maybe a magical party in a British castle? On the plus side, scaling back on travel should reduce costs, and I propose that if we need to follow this route, any spare funds can contribute to bringing some of our friends and family along.
Because you're the most important thing. The support - and above all love - of everyone throughout this for Nat has been crucial throughout this ordeal. If you can afford to contribute to this appeal at all, I should be eternally grateful. But please, please don't contribute anything you can't afford. Keeping the love for Nat coming through is what really matters.
Thank you for reading this, and wish us luck.
Organizer
Gavin Baddeley
Organizer
England