Jonnie's Memorial Fund
Donation protected
Two Hearts Dancing…that is how it was with my sweetheart Jonnie, my wife of 42 years, my soulmate, and best friend. October 20th Jonnie died at home as dawn was breaking. She died on her 64th birthday...she received the gift she was praying for...a one way ticket to heaven.
Ten years ago her body failed her and she could no longer dance or sing and be the community theatre actress that she so loved to be. The last 12 months under Hospice care at home with me as her sole caregiver, Jonnie continued to decline with the debilitating Multiple Sclerosis that ravaged her body and mind for years. The following explains how this illness not only destroyed Jonnie's health but also our finances and why I have reached out to our friends and their friends. When the symptoms of Jonnie’s illness first became evident, I had a thriving retail consulting business and had a good insurance policy for a self employed businessman. When Jonnie became sick and symptoms persisted and with continued weight loss and no clear diagnosis, we could no longer afford our health insurance premiums after about 3 years of great medical expenses and no answers. Ultimately I had to close my consulting business and forego the income that was sustaining us and paying the mortgage in order to care for her at home when she broke her hip in a fall. The cost of the disease ultimately took our savings, retirement, home equity, etc and finally foreclosure on our home.
The funds will be used for Final Expenses and a Memorial for Jonnie … I am nearing completion of a clay portrait of Jonnie which I intend to cast in bronze when funds become available. It will be a fitting memorial to a wonderful woman...my soulmate, lover, best friend. I loved that girl and she was my inspiration for all these years. Jonnie will always be the "wind beneath my wings" in my artful journey and I will make her very proud.
Our love story and challenges were chronicled in a newspaper article titled “Two Hearts Dancing” written by Jimmy Tomlin and published in The High Point Enterprise on Valentine’s Day 2016. It shared how our marriage and relationship survived the disease of MS and its’ costs over more than a decade, in addition to a major house fire loss that further disrupted our lives and finances in 2013.
Jonnie's time on earth has come to an end and we are both laughing death in its face because we know it was defeated long ago. I will dedicate myself as an artist to the joy of sharing the love story of Mark and Jonnie…Two Hearts Dancing…FOREVER!
Ten years ago her body failed her and she could no longer dance or sing and be the community theatre actress that she so loved to be. The last 12 months under Hospice care at home with me as her sole caregiver, Jonnie continued to decline with the debilitating Multiple Sclerosis that ravaged her body and mind for years. The following explains how this illness not only destroyed Jonnie's health but also our finances and why I have reached out to our friends and their friends. When the symptoms of Jonnie’s illness first became evident, I had a thriving retail consulting business and had a good insurance policy for a self employed businessman. When Jonnie became sick and symptoms persisted and with continued weight loss and no clear diagnosis, we could no longer afford our health insurance premiums after about 3 years of great medical expenses and no answers. Ultimately I had to close my consulting business and forego the income that was sustaining us and paying the mortgage in order to care for her at home when she broke her hip in a fall. The cost of the disease ultimately took our savings, retirement, home equity, etc and finally foreclosure on our home.The funds will be used for Final Expenses and a Memorial for Jonnie … I am nearing completion of a clay portrait of Jonnie which I intend to cast in bronze when funds become available. It will be a fitting memorial to a wonderful woman...my soulmate, lover, best friend. I loved that girl and she was my inspiration for all these years. Jonnie will always be the "wind beneath my wings" in my artful journey and I will make her very proud.
Our love story and challenges were chronicled in a newspaper article titled “Two Hearts Dancing” written by Jimmy Tomlin and published in The High Point Enterprise on Valentine’s Day 2016. It shared how our marriage and relationship survived the disease of MS and its’ costs over more than a decade, in addition to a major house fire loss that further disrupted our lives and finances in 2013. Jonnie's time on earth has come to an end and we are both laughing death in its face because we know it was defeated long ago. I will dedicate myself as an artist to the joy of sharing the love story of Mark and Jonnie…Two Hearts Dancing…FOREVER!Organizer
Mark Arnold Craven
Organizer
Greensboro, NC