Shauna Howell

The Howell family has experienced a series of tragic events in the midst of what was already a difficult year. Shauna’s husband and mother died within days of one another, leaving Shauna, Aaron, Christopher and Ruby to mourn a father, stepfather, mother and grandmother in the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We insisted on setting up this Go Fund Me despite resistance for two reasons. Of course, we hope to lessen the financial burden these circumstances create. But that was only part of it.  Mostly, we wanted to create an opportunity for all those who love them to be able to express that in a tangible way.

We are Shauna’s work family, and we have grown to adore and admire Shauna for her selflessness, her work ethic and her boundless love for all. She is the one who suddenly materializes with a cheese platter if you mention being unprepared for a social event – each element carefully chosen and beautifully presented. She’s the first to offer a shoulder to cry on and offers no judgment while you cry. She’s the first to laugh at bad puns and cry at sappy quotes. She’s the one who misses a ferry so she can go with you for a glass of wine and lets you choose where. She’s the one who thanks you for a job well done. She always helps others with her unfailing energy. And that’s just her work family.

She doesn’t let anyone down - working long hours while caring for her family and paying attention to what they need. She’s their biggest cheerleader.

So we want to be her cheerleading squad. It’s excruciating to not be able to gather around her and hold her. But if we can lift some of the financial weight, we can let her know we would hold her if we could. And we won’t have to subject her to our clumsy attempts at creating cheese platters.