Let's Get Sage Dancing Again! The Fund.

Hey Folks,

This fundraiser is for Sage to help with the associated costs of a major surgery coming up soon. If you know Sage, you probably know her as a pillar of whatever community you know her from. Whether that's dance, fire, jewelry, event production, outdoor education, etc. But before I say anything else I'd love for everyone to see what she has to say first. I asked Sage to write a message in her own words to y'all. She likely wanted me to edit some part of it, but I didn't. Here it is:

Thank you to all that are reading this. A few years ago I was diagnosed with pretty severe arthritis in my hips and was told I needed a hip replacement. So I had to stop dancing, and doing A LOT of the things that helped support my happiness and well being. For the last 4 years I have been working diligently to heal and rebuild tissue through stem cell treatments, acupuncture, diet, meditations, sound healing and many other alternative ways. It really has been a sacred journey for sure. I actually feel like a whole different person because of this path that I took. But now I am at the point where I just can’t handle this chronic pain that I have been dealing with for a long time and have decided to get double hip replacements. This means two surgeries that I will be getting this year. I exhausted my savings dealing with alternative healing that insurance does not pay for and need a little help at this point please.

I’m so excited and scared at the same time, but I know that it will get me back to dancing, hiking, gardening, socializing, teaching, silversmithing, and doing all the things I love again! I have been working with children and children’s programs for a while now and honestly it makes me soooo happy teaching children (especially teaching them flow arts, metal work, how to build a fire, archery, and dance). So yeah I would LOVE to get back to doing this without being in pain. Thank you so much and my heart is so grateful knowing that my friends support me getting my fire back! ❤️

Okay let me know if this is good. Feel free to change any of it. This was hard for me to write for some reason. Ugh!

Love you!

Sage is a beloved friend, colleague, educator, auntie, caregiver, and lots of other things. I've watched this journey unfold over the last few years and I can tell you with full confidence that two things are true. This human being has been doing everything in their power to heal this. And that the world is a brighter place when Sage can dance. Sage and I work with children together and her teaching them flow arts is a beautiful thing to watch. I feel confident in saying that I speak for dozens, if not hundreds of children that I work with too, that their lives would be healthier and more fun with Sage back at full strength.

There are a lot of reasons to donate and support this: If you know Sage, if your kids have worked with Sage, if you think fire dancing is cool, if communal health resonates with you, if you were born on a day that ends in "y", etc.

Let's get Sage dancing again y'all. We can do this.

Best,

Braden

(GoFundme assumes this fundraiser is for wildfires in California based on the use of the word fire, so I need to provide the following information for fraud prevention. Feel free to move on.)

My name is Braden DeLonay and I am from Austin, Texas.

Sage and I have been friends for 15 years.

The money is going straight to Sage.

It is being used for portions of her medical care that are not covered by insurance, and to help cover living expenses during recovery.