With a heavy heart I write to you. My name is Michael Miranda and I am 63. For the last 23 years I have been taking care of my best friend and one would call companion Brock. He was very special and I spent these years trying to provide for him as close to a normal life as possible. This past Friday, June 13th, Brock took his finally breath, passing away in the early morning. Being disabled since he was 16 years old, Brock's life was spent battling chronic pain plus other chronic health issues, suffering with the Medical industry, and the occasional visits to the Hospital (which he hated) when his condition needed more care then I could provide. Besides the chronic pain, he suffered from chronic asthma, abdominal problems, skin afflications, etc. It seemed we would conquor one afflication when something new would arise to get in the way of him having some sort of normal life. Three years ago, his mother Mary bought a home and I joined Brock and his mother, moving in to be a 24/7 caregiver for him. I had finally been able to get paid for taking care of Brock so that I didn't need to hold down a full time job to support myself while still getting Brock to his Doctor appointments that included long 2 and half hour trips to Seattle for his pain needs until our town finally got a pain specialist. Taking care of Brock was a full time occupation and even though I was happy to do it, it was nice to finally be able to take care of living needs while doing that so I could just focus of his needs. Unfortunately the last three years wasn't without it's major set backs. On November 23, 2023, Thanksgiving night, we rushed his mother, Mary, to the emergency room where she died from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm that she had been diagnosed with only the month before. Even though we had been assured that the diagnoses wasn't life threatening, that wasn't the case and her passing was a shock. Besides the suddenness of her death and the emotional toll it had of us, Brock and I had the additional stress of losing a contributor to the household. It was important that we could stay in the house that we shared with Mary, especially for Brock. Besides the home he shard his last years with his Mother in, we also knew that it would be the only way Brock would ever be able to live in an actually house because of his disability status. So we set out to make it happen. Luckily I was making enough money to pay the bulk of the expenses and be able to support the household with Brock contributing what little he could since he didn't get much from the government because he went on disability so early in his life and was never able to work much before hand. After all the legal challenges were taken care of, including financial and the fact that his mother never left a will and Brock had two siblings, we were able to keep the house and settle into a secure and somewhat normal life. But that came to an end on June 1st when Brock started forming clots in his lungs and he had to go into the hospital for a few days. Even though he was able to come home, his body couldn't keep up with his new medical situation and he passed away in his favorite recliner in the early morning of the 13th.

This is were the reason I am reaching out to you. Besides losing my best friend and companion of the last 23 years and what defined those years, I also lost my means of supporting myself. Brock and I talked frequently about what was needed to insure that when one of us departed this life that the other would be taken care of. Unfortunately for myself, we were not able to follow through with this. I am able to formally retire in 4 years. Brock and I were looking forward to that because besides the income I was receiving for taking care of him, I would have my Social Security and we could see our later years comfortably. Brock also wanted me to be able to stay in our house. Well the turning of the tides has placed challenges to my future. Since Brock was my "job", I am suddenly unemployed plus what little he contributed is also no more. I never thought at this stage in my life that I'd have to start from scratch. I want to stay in the house we shared because Brock always considered it my home too and it was very important to him that it would continue to be so after he passed. He was always concerned over the fact that I had to support him and the household because he got so little financially and couldn't do more. But I was always thankful that I could give him a home and some semblance of a secure, normal life and I never looked at how this was being accomplished as long as it was happening. I am looking at all my options to make this work as well as taking care of Brock's last needs. Before I met Brock I had taken care of my own mother during the last years of her life. Now it seems that I may need some help and so I am reaching out. I have never done this before and hope to never have to this again. But I see it as one of my options to continue Brock's story. Anything will help to take care of Brock's cremation, lawyer fees, to have a roof over my head and continue on. If you are not able to give at this time, can you please share this. Thank you and please pray for Brock.

PS I really wanted to upload a photo of Brock but I can't figure out how to.