Last Saturday, my dad, Jim Grant, suffered cardiac arrest and a heart attack, undergoing CPR for approximately 30 minutes, and he has not awakened. The prognosis is grim at best. It is unlikely life will ever return to a semblance of our normal as Dad will require significant care for the rest of his life. In handling Dad’s billing this month, it hit me that this would be the last month I would send out his work statements. He will almost certainly never be able to work again.

Dad was still working full-time to support Mom and himself. Being self-employed since his early years, he has no 401k nor retirement plan in place. The anticipated expenses associated with this illness and treatment as well as their long-term living expenses without means of income are overwhelmingly daunting.

Many have inquired if there is anything we need or how they can help, so we set up this request. If it is within your circumstances and in lieu of any flowers, gifts, or other items, please donate anything you would like in assistance of my parents, Jim and Dorothy Grant – 100% of this fundraiser will be given to them for any expenses they have as they recover from this tragedy. Please feel free to share this request with anyone and everyone who may be inclined to assist, even on social media – it is ever so deeply appreciated!

For more than 52 years, Dad worked so hard on behalf of our family, sometimes holding down two jobs at once to make ends meet. As a young man, he even trained himself to do pinstriping, window tinting, and other tricks of his trade after working all-night janitorial jobs, painting lines along an old file cabinet to practice his steady hand after Mom told him he couldn’t paint and stripe the refrigerator! But even during lean times, he was faithfully one who reached out to help others. When times were better, he quite often took great pleasure in extending “green” handshakes to those in need – reaching out to put a little cash in their hand. He ever so generously kept an emergency $100 bill in his wallet in case he spoke to anyone who was in need that he could help right away. We cannot even begin to recount how many times he replaced that emergency fund to assist others. In fact, we estimate that if everyone who benefited from my parents’ generosity over the years gave even $5, that would support them for quite some time indeed! We deeply and sincerely thank you for considering whether you have the means to donate at this time and if not, that’s ok – your love and visits, hugs and phone calls, are certainly and just as much needed and most cherished too!