I'm trying to raise some funds to help my parents at this very difficult time. My mother has been bedridden for over a year and a half and has been in four different nursing homes. Currently, she is in the hospital, two and a half hours away from her husband of 59 years. She has advanced stage kidney disease and has been fed through a tube in her stomach for just over a year now. Additionally, she has a mass in her stomach that may be cancerous. She has to get cortisone shots in both knees every six months and is in constant pain. A little over a year ago, we were advised by the medical team at Albany Medical Center to bring her home so she could say goodbye to her family and friends. They gave her less than a week to live. Fortunately, mom, along with her family, decided to fight, and that's when the feeding tube was put in her stomach. She has had a rough year, with multiple UTIs, and has battled back with help from the medical staff at Northern Dutchess Hospital and Vassar Hospital. Most of the time she is in pain, but it has been manageable. She has also had problems with her liver, as enzyme levels have been well over 2000 at times. She is also diabetic.

Dad lives in their home two and a half hours north of where she is and suffers from congestive heart failure. They both live on social security only, and dad can't even afford the gas and tolls to get to see her. His car is in dire need of major repairs, which he can't afford. He is also trying to modify the house in hopes she may be able to return someday. The trip is very difficult for him, but love finds a way.

They have four children, but I am the only one fairly close to her. My siblings are far away and can't help out financially. They have a son in South Carolina, a daughter in North Carolina, another daughter in Pennsylvania, and I am about 20 minutes from mom here in the Hudson Valley, NY, and I get to see her multiple times a week. However, she is very lonely, as she rarely gets any other visitors, except a few times a year. Nothing gets her spirits up more than seeing her loved ones. The way her face lights up when one of her children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren walk into her room is heartwarming. She is alert and sharp as a tack. She does keep in touch on Facebook, but most of the time, she is confined to her bed, stuck in one room all day. I can't even imagine how lonely and depressing that could be.

I know dad would love to have the opportunity to see her more frequently, but unfortunately, he doesn't have the means to do so. I know how lonely he is without her through the tears when he talks about her.

So I am asking, if you can help bring them together more frequently, you would be making two wonderful people so very happy. Thank you for your consideration and support.