Spende geschützt
Hey friends, me again. I am starting to feel like the bad luck link in the chain of my friends. I am hoping that is not true, and that it really is simply that I have the good fortune of having a large circle of awesome friends
Anyway, As some of you know my dear friend and adopted brother Donald Rainville suffered a stroke this past Tuesday July 21st. He was having a very normal day right up until the moment he wasn't. It has been a shock to all of us but worst of all, for his loving wife Michelle who is doing her best right now to process what is happening, and to deal with the unimaginable feeling of helplessness as her ability to be with Don is limited due to the Corona virus restrictions. If it wasn't bad enough to witness her husband and best friend suffer a major health crisis right before her eyes, she was left waiting for news in the parking lot of the hospital with no ability to hold his hand or to advocate for him in person. The nightmare of this is beyond my comprehension.
The reason I call Don my adopted brother is because we are so much alike. We are both lumbering giants who will grace you with a hug that could double as a mammogram. Most of the time against your will. We refer to this as "Saint Bernarding". We see our friends off in the distance, and it is full steam ahead! Before you know it, we are upon you long before we take notice of you bracing yourself for impact. While we are nearly the same height, we laugh at the fact that when we sit next to each other, Don is about a foot taller than me as he was gifted with an extra long torso, and I was born with a third of a torso. (See sitting photo of Jill and Don.)
We also both share a jaw dropping lack of a sense of direction. On one journey to drop off paintings in northern Maine, we found ourselves so lost that we figured that our long suffering spouses (the ones gifted with an inner compass), would get a call years later with the news that our skeletons had been discovered in Don's car, with each of our arms pointing in opposite directions.
Don and I also share a love of painting nature, but in unusual ways. Don with bits and pieces of torn cardboard or any other interesting object that fits moment, me with my power sander and sharp blades. Artwork in one form or another is how we make our livings, and Don has been good enough to help me on a few projects over the years.
Don has not had the easiest life in terms of his health. He eats well, doesn't smoke, gets exercise, and never has to add an extra belt loop to his pants (although he will tell you that he may need suspenders one day as his claims that his fanny seems to be disappearing with age) Through no fault of his own, Don has suffered a great deal of medical problems. The gene for cancer runs rampant through Don's family, and he has now survived colon cancer three times. On top he suffered a detached retina after cataract surgery (cataract due to previous chemotherapy) that went wrong. I could go on, but I would run the risk of you thinking I am making this up as it is hard to imagine that one person should have to suffer this much bad luck. Through all of this, Don has managed to make all of us laugh with his well-honed sense of humor and to entertain us with his witty repertoire.
As you can imagine, on top of the agony of chemotherapy and multiple surgeries, the sad state of our health insurance system has left Don and Michele with enormous medical bills, with now real end in sight of paying them off. Michelle and Don still have $15,000 to pay off from previous medical bills resulting from enormous deductibles and co-pays. They are now looking at another huge pile of new medical bills as well as lost wages.
My hope is to help raise some money my friends, which will ease up the financial strain as (on top of mounting medical bills) Michele may lose wages caring for Don while he recovers, which could take quite a while.
I hope it goes without saying that the money raised on this platform goes directly into Michele and Don's bank account, not mine. I am just trying to take one more burden off their plate by setting this up.
Thank you all in advance.
Anyway, As some of you know my dear friend and adopted brother Donald Rainville suffered a stroke this past Tuesday July 21st. He was having a very normal day right up until the moment he wasn't. It has been a shock to all of us but worst of all, for his loving wife Michelle who is doing her best right now to process what is happening, and to deal with the unimaginable feeling of helplessness as her ability to be with Don is limited due to the Corona virus restrictions. If it wasn't bad enough to witness her husband and best friend suffer a major health crisis right before her eyes, she was left waiting for news in the parking lot of the hospital with no ability to hold his hand or to advocate for him in person. The nightmare of this is beyond my comprehension.
The reason I call Don my adopted brother is because we are so much alike. We are both lumbering giants who will grace you with a hug that could double as a mammogram. Most of the time against your will. We refer to this as "Saint Bernarding". We see our friends off in the distance, and it is full steam ahead! Before you know it, we are upon you long before we take notice of you bracing yourself for impact. While we are nearly the same height, we laugh at the fact that when we sit next to each other, Don is about a foot taller than me as he was gifted with an extra long torso, and I was born with a third of a torso. (See sitting photo of Jill and Don.)
We also both share a jaw dropping lack of a sense of direction. On one journey to drop off paintings in northern Maine, we found ourselves so lost that we figured that our long suffering spouses (the ones gifted with an inner compass), would get a call years later with the news that our skeletons had been discovered in Don's car, with each of our arms pointing in opposite directions.
Don and I also share a love of painting nature, but in unusual ways. Don with bits and pieces of torn cardboard or any other interesting object that fits moment, me with my power sander and sharp blades. Artwork in one form or another is how we make our livings, and Don has been good enough to help me on a few projects over the years.
Don has not had the easiest life in terms of his health. He eats well, doesn't smoke, gets exercise, and never has to add an extra belt loop to his pants (although he will tell you that he may need suspenders one day as his claims that his fanny seems to be disappearing with age) Through no fault of his own, Don has suffered a great deal of medical problems. The gene for cancer runs rampant through Don's family, and he has now survived colon cancer three times. On top he suffered a detached retina after cataract surgery (cataract due to previous chemotherapy) that went wrong. I could go on, but I would run the risk of you thinking I am making this up as it is hard to imagine that one person should have to suffer this much bad luck. Through all of this, Don has managed to make all of us laugh with his well-honed sense of humor and to entertain us with his witty repertoire.
As you can imagine, on top of the agony of chemotherapy and multiple surgeries, the sad state of our health insurance system has left Don and Michele with enormous medical bills, with now real end in sight of paying them off. Michelle and Don still have $15,000 to pay off from previous medical bills resulting from enormous deductibles and co-pays. They are now looking at another huge pile of new medical bills as well as lost wages.
My hope is to help raise some money my friends, which will ease up the financial strain as (on top of mounting medical bills) Michele may lose wages caring for Don while he recovers, which could take quite a while.
I hope it goes without saying that the money raised on this platform goes directly into Michele and Don's bank account, not mine. I am just trying to take one more burden off their plate by setting this up.
Thank you all in advance.
Organisator und Spendenbegünstigter
Jill Valliere
Organisator
Rockland, ME
Michele Mannion
Spendenbegünstigte