Minnesota Postal Worker Needs Some Assistance

That's me. Selfie in the parking lot at the Post Office where I work. The other is a selfie in the hospital at the Mayo Clinic.

Me and my Dad. Me working as a photographer, eating a bake sale cookie. Me with one of my cecropia moth hatchlings.

Man, this is so difficult! This has to be the most difficult story for me to write. It's so hard to ask for help. I'm so much like my dad when it comes to asking for help. He was born in 1929 during the great depression and passed on to me a philosophy of 'do it yourself' and don't preach but 'be' the example for others to follow. Be generous to the church. Be grateful for what you have. And don't ask strangers for help. Not an easy task when a family of seven is lost on the road and dad won't pull over and ask for directions.

My name is Gregory. I was born in Minnesota and grew up on the iron range. Mom worked at K-Mart and Dad was a Lutheran Pastor. I have three sisters and a brother and we're all approximately one year apart in age. I'm the second oldest.

Mom blessed me in so many ways. She blessed me with art and my creative ability. Drawing, painting and anxiety and depression. Firey emotion. I won the best actor award in high school and was smitten with acting. After I graduated I found myself in New York City determined to 'do it myself' and be an example of success for my family. And since, like my mom, I was also terrified of driving, I could save money living in the Big Expensive Apple because I wouldn't need to drive let alone own a car. No parking payments. No mechanical maintenance bills. Learning the craft of acting meant I would be tending bar and waiting tables to pay rent and utilities. After a few dramatic years in New York City and multiple expensive acting classes, I forced myself to get a license and drove across the country to Los Angeles. More acting classes. Lots more waiting tables. No insurance. No IRA. No emergency savings. Just perseverance toward a dream. After twelve years of persevering and eventually turning 40, I called it quits in 2004 and moved back to Minnesota to be with Mom and Dad as their caretaker. They had a lawn to mow and snow to shovel and welcomed me with open arms. I welcomed their open arms. I joined their church and opened a photography business and grew quite the clientele. I stayed in business for ten years. However, there was still no insurance, no IRA and no emergency savings for me. My artistic endeavors had to take a backseat and reality meant taking a job at the local post office in 2014 so I'd have something to retire on.

It was decided dad would stay in southern Minnesota near my sister in a nursing facility with hospice care. It was also decided we'd sell dad's house and property and the money from those proceeds would be kept in a trust to be used to care for dad until the end of his life.

I received nothing from the sale of the property even though I lived there and was the sole caregiver for twenty years. The property was my dad's and nursing care is costly and necessary.

That being the case, I took out a loan and used what leave I could from the post office to move to Rochester, Mn to be closer to my dad. It was an extremely difficult move as I was now working nights. I got an apartment and a roommate and moved all my medical history to the Mayo Clinic. It's my good fortune to have such caring and experienced doctors.

I had surgery in October. I ran out of sick leave the day after I had surgery. I'm no longer able to afford my apartment and to make matters worse I've taken out some extremely high-interest loans that will break me. To heal my surgery scars, I'm on a limited work detail to only 40 hours a week and 8 hours a day with no lifting more than ten pounds. Hard to accomplish in an Amazon-heavy environment.

I need about $7,000.00 to pay off the high-interest PayDay loans.

Thank you so much for reading my story.

Me and mom. Me and mom. Me, mom and dad.