I’m raising funds for my amazing aunt Tanya, who is currently in an urgent and heartbreaking situation. She needs help affording an attorney to fight a family member for her right and my grandfather's right to stay in the home he shared with his late wife, my grandma.

My grandfather, Michael, is 84 years old. He and my grandma spent many decades together, and all they ever wanted was to stay in their home until the end. Sadly, my grandma passed away this past January after battling heart failure.

When her health started to decline last October, Tanya who had been living out of town for nearly 10 years immediately came back home to care for them both. She moved in, gave up much of her life, and has been by my grandpa’s side almost every single day since.

The house was in a terrible state when she got there the floors, walls, trash, dirty dishes, animals using the bathroom indoors, dirty laundry everywhere, and an unbearable smell. Nurses had to wear masks and gloves just to enter the home. They weren’t washing themselves because they couldn’t alone. They were living deplorably and it’s on record the house was in this state until my aunt returned. Tanya stepped up and has spent months cleaning and restoring the home, turning it back into a place of dignity, comfort, and love.

All this while she has been battling stage 4 breast cancer that had spread to her spine. She is finally in remission since April but now has been dealing with relentless hardships at every corner she takes to try to keep my grandpa happy and comfortable because of the push backs on everything that can help him.

She cut her work hours in half to take care of my grandpa and now drives an hour for the little work she can manage him being watched which is hard because he is extremely attached to her and asks for her constantly. She makes just enough to cover gas, medical bills, and necessities and sometimes uses my grandpa’s card to help cover groceries when needed out of account she’s told she may use every now and then when needed by this family member. Her love, patience, and care for him are nothing short of heroic. She is pushed at every corner though. This family member has cancelled appointments my grandpa needed and set him up for hospice end of life although he is no where near that stage yet as confirmed by shocked hospice once they came and realized. They canceled his physical therapy he needed for a broken hip and shoulder. They put him on meds that made him loose his memory and ability to converse with people. During this time on meds they had him sign documents under the guise they were protecting them and their home. My aunt has had to fight all of this tooth and nail just to get him to a comfortable healthy place right now.

Now, the other family member is trying to take his rights away through the courts, possibly to move him out of the home and sell it. The concern of this family member is his assets and banks accounts and what will be left when he dies. The concern should be what’s best for him now and he should be aloud to spend his money on his home health care needs and stay in his home. This a is family member who suggested we put my grandpa in a home just 2 days after his wife of 50 years died and he was in such deep loss and grieving. We hadn’t even had a service yet. While my aunt Tanya held his hand and head while he cried every day for weeks mourning the love of his life. They have stated my aunt was gone out of town for 10 years while they let their elderly loved ones live this way. Now that they have filed paperwork to take over everything, now they have been showing up trying to make repairs to the home all of a sudden. It’s all not adding up and It’s very shocking and heart breaking when evil comes from loved ones who wear sheep’s clothing. It’s traumatizing and hard to even know what to do in such an unexpected situation but she can’t just give up. He deserves to be with people who love him and have the time to give him the attention he needs. He has stated he is uncomfortable at this family members home and that he doesn’t feel welcomed and that when with them he pretty much feels put in a corner. That cannot be his constant. Tanya was just served legal paperwork and has been advised to file her own legal response to fight for my grandpa and protect the home he and my grandma loved. She is struggling coming to terms with what is happening to her and needs some hope that she will be able to give him his last wish.

But she simply cannot afford an attorney. The other family member is the only one with access to his major accounts, my grandfather can’t even use his own money to fight this. He worked his whole life, he was an engineer and yet he’s being told he can’t afford a home health care aid? They are accusing her of stealing when 1000s of dollars are missing from their accounts that she didn’t take, she wants a forensic accountant to look and see what’s going on as well… because it is not her.

Tanya has sacrificed so much, and she’s doing everything she can. She doesn’t ask for help but I am asking for her.

Please, if you can donate anything at all, it will help Tanya get the legal support she needs to fight for my grandpa and honor the life he and my grandma built.

Every dollar helps. Thank you so much for your love, support, and generosity.

With gratitude.