A Love Story Between Sisters
Donation protected
I will preface this Narrative with my own experience with the 'Wilkinson Gals.' Some of my BEST memories in this city are with THEM and THEIR mom.. 'HER' four girls...the 'loves of my life' she would say...'my strength.' I wish that I could share every memory that I have with Loretta. She really was quite something else. Tara reminds me of her....These 4 beautiful girls lost both of their parents to this dreadful disease at a very young age. Both Dad and Mom were in their prime. Passing away from cancer at such young ages, Loretta and Quinlan were unable to experience events and milestones with their children, their children's partners and their own grandchildren. I will forever be grateful and recognize how fortunate enough I was to have 'their' mom be a surrogate 'grandmum' to my own child...I will always be grateful to Loretta for the memories that I have with her. Never at any point in time, would I imagine that we would be reaching out for help, for Loretta and Quinlan's youngest daughter, Tara.
I continue this narrative from Tara's sisters: Tuesday, Tracey and Toni.
Tara is 44 years young and the incredible mother of her 12 year old boy, our beautiful nephew, Evan. The past 2 years have been difficult for all of us, but most especially for this young boy and his mother.
For most of Evan's young life, he has bore witness to struggles that included emotional turmoil, heartbreak and the tragic loss of his father. An incredibly dark time for the entire family, Tara did all that she could to try and 'save' Dan. She used every available resource related to Mental Well Being. Sadly it was not enough, Dan completed suicide just prior to the Summer of 2017.
As time passed, all of us adjusted as best as we could after Dan's death. We were just beginning to live our 'new normal.'
Our 'normal' was recently disrupted again.
In August of 2018, Tara underwent a colonoscopy to investigate some symptoms she had been experiencing. To our most shocking surprise, the Doctor informed us that Tara has stage 3 Rectal Cancer. We sat quietly trying to absorb this news. We thought 'how can this be!? How will we tell Evan? After the tragic loss of his father, how will this child react to hearing that his mother has cancer?'
We patiently waited on all of the tests that were ordered, wondering anxiously, if the cancer had spread.
Tara has gone through 6 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy prior to having surgery to help shrink her tumor to a more manageable size for the Doctor to remove.
On January 9th, 2019, Tara had surgery to remove her tumor and affected lymph nodes. So far she is barreling through her recovery like the strong determined and committed woman and mom, that she is.
We write this letter out of love, as a plea for help.
Tara requires some financial support to assist her through the last leg of 'this' journey. This month her short-term disability will run out. It will run out just as she begins 9 weeks of chemotherapy.
She has been maintaining her home, taking care of her son as well as moderating her own well being, on a very modest budget.
She has endured incredible cost already with an expensive, but necessary dietary prep, before she had surgery, medical necessities not covered by healthcare and unfortunately due to a few cold spells this winter, she's also had some unexpected home repairs.
Our hope is that we can 'gift' Tara with a little monetary support while she waits to return to work, hopefully healthier, this spring.
Much love and gratitude to all who choose to donate, to pray and to support Tara and Evan in any way you can!
I continue this narrative from Tara's sisters: Tuesday, Tracey and Toni.
Tara is 44 years young and the incredible mother of her 12 year old boy, our beautiful nephew, Evan. The past 2 years have been difficult for all of us, but most especially for this young boy and his mother.
For most of Evan's young life, he has bore witness to struggles that included emotional turmoil, heartbreak and the tragic loss of his father. An incredibly dark time for the entire family, Tara did all that she could to try and 'save' Dan. She used every available resource related to Mental Well Being. Sadly it was not enough, Dan completed suicide just prior to the Summer of 2017.
As time passed, all of us adjusted as best as we could after Dan's death. We were just beginning to live our 'new normal.'
Our 'normal' was recently disrupted again.
In August of 2018, Tara underwent a colonoscopy to investigate some symptoms she had been experiencing. To our most shocking surprise, the Doctor informed us that Tara has stage 3 Rectal Cancer. We sat quietly trying to absorb this news. We thought 'how can this be!? How will we tell Evan? After the tragic loss of his father, how will this child react to hearing that his mother has cancer?'
We patiently waited on all of the tests that were ordered, wondering anxiously, if the cancer had spread.
Tara has gone through 6 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy prior to having surgery to help shrink her tumor to a more manageable size for the Doctor to remove.
On January 9th, 2019, Tara had surgery to remove her tumor and affected lymph nodes. So far she is barreling through her recovery like the strong determined and committed woman and mom, that she is.
We write this letter out of love, as a plea for help.
Tara requires some financial support to assist her through the last leg of 'this' journey. This month her short-term disability will run out. It will run out just as she begins 9 weeks of chemotherapy.
She has been maintaining her home, taking care of her son as well as moderating her own well being, on a very modest budget.
She has endured incredible cost already with an expensive, but necessary dietary prep, before she had surgery, medical necessities not covered by healthcare and unfortunately due to a few cold spells this winter, she's also had some unexpected home repairs.
Our hope is that we can 'gift' Tara with a little monetary support while she waits to return to work, hopefully healthier, this spring.
Much love and gratitude to all who choose to donate, to pray and to support Tara and Evan in any way you can!
Organizer
Catie Ewan
Organizer
Windsor, ON