My name is Alex, and the title above are the last words my father, Donald Bauer, ever said to me.

He died on a ventilator after a brutal bout with COVID-19. He'd been rushed to hospital for shortness of breath one morning and was immediately hooked up because his lungs were so compromised. We saw him awake and aware for just a few minutes, said some (at the time unknowingly final) goodbyes. He fought hard for three weeks, but he couldn't take the pneumonia and death followed. And how it certainly did, in more ways than one.

Dad was/is my best friend, my hero. He provided for us and worked himself like a dog my whole life. It was his singular goal to give us a comfortable and happy life, ask anyone he knew. Now he's gone and I am doing what I can in attempting to fill his shoes. I provide what monetary and household help for mom. Medical bills, however, have come calling. He had a vanishingly small estate, he did what he could, to leave us and these look to bore an uncomfortably large hole in what remains of that.

So here we are.

What I'm asking for is help in covering these expenses, any amount that could be given is appreciated, even a dollar. I'm asking too to garner a little money for mom so she can be okay for a time with groceries and bills. I don't expect much at all despite my logged goal. But short of selling blood and organs, this is one of the few avenues open to me. What emotional and financial support I can give, I am absolutely giving her, however meager.

Whatever you are willing to give is deeply appreciated, even if just a signal boost.

This is for her, for him, from a son trying blindly to live up to the ethos of a far better man.