It is with a broken heart that I am letting our family and friends know that my beautiful sister-in-law Christina passed away on Friday, July 8th, 2022, at Lutheran General hospital after a long battle with cancer. Christina spent almost three weeks on a ventilator in the critical care unit fighting to stay with us. I am reluctantly reaching out to our community during this extremely difficult time to ask for help as a last resort in order to help my brother take care of his family. Medical bills have accumulated quickly this year. The financial impact on his family has been devastating. Christina was his partner in life and also in managing and maintaining all of their financial responsibilities. He is grieving her loss while simultaneously dealing with the financial reality he is facing. Eric has never asked for this type of help before, because he has been fortunate to never have needed to. But now he is without the woman who has been by his side for 31 years and is facing a potential financial crisis as a father alone. Most of you might not know that Markus had back surgery while Christina was in the hospital as well. I recently found out that Eric will have to pay for a significant portion. I never thought he would be in this position, but he is and it is extremely humbling to ask for help. I know that Christina would do everything in her power to take care of her family. Eric’s sole focus right now is taking care of his children, and there are so many things that he will need help with that can not be provided for on one income alone. I would greatly appreciate any help you are able to give, even if it’s just sharing this information. People always say “it takes a village” and right now I need that village to help me help his family.