This is Trisha, my loving wife, thoughtful partner, and best friend. She needs your help.

 

Growing up in El Paso, Trisha shared the dream of many a young girl—to be a ballerina. In 1978 at the age of 18, she left West Texas and realized her dream of becoming a pioneering Black professional ballet dancer. She began her ballet career at age 10 with Ms. Ingeborg Heuser, her lifelong mentor and friend. She performed with the University Civic Ballet and Ballet El Paso, under the direction of Ms. Heuser. 

For eighteen years, Patricia Johnson performed or studied with several major dance companies. In 1976 Trisha received a scholarship to train at The Dance Theatre of Harlem under Arthur Mitchell, Karel Shook, Geoffrey Holder, and Tanaquil Le Clercq. She also studied at the Houston Ballet Academy under the direction of Ben Stevenson and the Cleveland Ballet under the direction of Dennis Nahat and Ian Horvath. She danced professionally with the Oakland Ballet and the San Francisco Opera.

After eighteen years, Trisha hung up her pointe shoes to become an elementary school special education teacher. Her dance career, however, took its toll on her body. By the age of 60, she had endured five surgeries to her neck, spine, hip, and knee. Osteoarthritis and crippling stenosis turned the once stately and graceful dancer into someone suffering chronic pain, requiring her to use a walker to move about our home.

Health insurance is not what it used to be. With three more surgeries ahead of her, we are looking at significant out-of-pocket expenses, including extensive therapy sessions, co-pays, co-insurance, and deductibles. All of this has to be paid out of my part-time salary as a college instructor.

 

We are asking for your help to cover our out-of-pocket costs, which amounts to $9,500 for three surgeries on her spine and sacroiliac joint.

While Trisha knows that her days as a professional ballet dancer are long behind her, she does have a dream. She  dreams of simply being able to dance with me at her grandson’s wedding. While that day may be a few years away, her goal is nevertheless out there, somewhere, just out of sight. It begins now with your donation.

 

Please help my wife dance one more time by contributing to her Go Fund Me fundraiser. So please, click, donate, and share. In lieu of a donation, feel free to share your thoughts and best wishes. Here next surgery is scheduled for Monday, July 11, 2022.

Peace be with you and have a blessed day.