A lot of you have had the sheer pleasure of knowing my mother Dorothy.

For those that have not yet met her shes nothing short of an angel sent from heaven.

I dont just say this because I am her daughter and she has spent her life giving everything she has to me her husband and her 4 other children, but I speak on behalf of the many lives shes touched by means of the charity work she has done all throughout her life, to the strangers she has welcomed into her home during the holidays, to the friends shes kept through the many years.  Any one that has come into contact with this woman knows she would give you the shirt off of her back.

She has worked so hard her whole life to give her family everything and this past year her world came tumbling down.

After 40 years of marriage her husband, my father, passed away after a long battle with his health and after an on-going struggle with his death most recently my mothers safe was broken into and thousands of dollars of cash she had saved was stolen.

My mother has never been a woman who cares about money, and even though her spirits are so broken she said to me "your Papa always said, you cant take it with you."  I know she had saved that money for a trip she is taking in a couple months to revisit the place my father loved the most, Italy.

It would mean the world to me that with your help we reach this goal and suprise my mom with the money that was taken from her.  Because lets face it ... in some way we all know she has been there for you, she has cooked you dinner, she has shared a story with you, she has loved you ... and now its time for us to love her back.

Please, help me give back to Dorothy.