Love for Gail

Hi, friends.

My friend Gail was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer three years ago. She underwent 35 radiation treatments and seven chemotherapy sessions. Some of the tumors shrank, and some grew and moved to the other lung. Her right lung is now filled with cancer, scar tissue, and blood clots. She’s presently going through chemo again, but it’s not helping and she has no strength, so she has some difficult decisions to make soon. 

 

Gail’s only source of income is Social Security, so she was already barely getting by. Once the medical bills began piling up, she could not afford anything outside of the bare necessities, including the never-ending list of items she now needs to function within her growing health limitations. Whatever she decides at her next appointment, the doctors believe she has less than a year with us.

 

Gail is the kind of person who finds something she loves and gifts it to somebody else she loves rather than keeping it for herself. She is endearing and authentic, and our world will be a bit darker without her bright light. Let’s bless her beyond her wildest imagination in her final season of life so she can cover her copays, necessities, and maybe some luxuries that bring her comfort & joy. Perhaps she'll even find the strength & have the means to cross something off her bucket list- whatever her heart desires over these next precious months, let us help make it a reality.

 

In addition to this fundraising page, we'll be hosting a live streamed benefit concert and virtual pop-up gallery of her art on the evening of May 29th at 6pm pst. More details to come. Please text Angela @6196020007 for more info.

 

If you are interested in learning more about Gail, her bio is beneath these photos of her with her son, granddaughters, & great-grandsons. We are so grateful for whatever you may be able to contribute. No amount is too small.

If you are able to give $100 or more, you will receive one of her incredible WATERCOLOR PRINTS. Her art is magnificent, and she would love to share it far & wide. When we came to her about this, she had already been giving her art away to those closest to her. We are gathering the originals that are left from her little studio in East County & we’ll update you on what prints may become available. (photos at the bottom of the page)

 

Thank you for reading, and thank you for giving! Let’s celebrate one another before we cross over, shall we? What a blessing to have a heads up. 

Endless thanks & best wishes to you..
Angela *Be sure to click READ MORE after photo.

 

 

 

Gail Balga Bio

 

Gail was born in 1945 in San Diego and has always been a dreamer, creator, and natural artist. As a child, she says she was inside her head most of the time and constantly trying to create whatever she imagined. She eventually chose watercolor as her favorite medium and has painted countless works of art. Gail enjoyed an excellent Illustration career for newspapers across San Diego County and retired early in 1999 to raise her granddaughter.

 

The thing Gail is most grateful for in her life is that her son has returned home and moved in with her to be her full-time caregiver. Gail had to give up driving a couple of years ago, so he takes her to all of her appointments and handles all of her needs at home. She says, “He is very sensitive to the fact that I am having much trouble giving up my independence. He is more than wonderful.”

 

Gail lost her husband Tony in 2011. They had been together for 22 years, and he was the love of her life. Beyond Gail’s son, she has a dog named Chance, two granddaughters, Opal & Jade, and two precious great-grandsons, Sterling & Sawyer. She claims Frank, Michelle, and Liz as her own and is thankful to have had the opportunity to become a second mother to them. She is also quite fond of her son’s half-siblings, Heather and Bobby, who have also become her family. She has family and friends she adores stretching from San Diego to the East Coast. Let's all come together and bless this wonderful woman however we can.

 

"Don't focus on what you can't do anymore.           Put your thoughts on the thing you can do."
-Gail

 

 

 

Gail Balga Art

I am *just* old enough to be having a hard time uploading Gail's art to this site aside from these three pieces, which are cropped - but aren’t they lovely? The last is from her Steampunk series.  *Please see separate Facebook photo album or text Angela @6196020007 for more of her art.