Hi everyone. This is Gary. And here today - Father's Day - I'm tempted to think of my own dad who died just a year ago. I'm tempted to think of my Grandpa Garland and all he tought us kids. I'm tempted to think of my Uncle Paul who tought me so much about personal responsibility blah blah blah.

What I am going to talk about is my brother Tim. My brother and his family have gone through some serious - SERIOUS - stuff in the past six months and I won't sugar coat it. They need help.

January 6 at 1:37 AM, Heather (Tim's Wife - my sister in law) gave birth to their second child - a beautiful girl named Hailey Jean. They live in a small mountain community near Kernville, CA. We all visited to see the new bundle of joy and were so happy for them.

2 weeks after, My Mom and Sister Jennifer were visiting for baby photo shoot day. But something was wrong. Heather started having some numbness in her right hand. My brother got Timmy (their three-year-old son) off to school and had to work while my Mom and Sister helped out to handle Hailey's 2 week check-up so Heather could get seen at urgent care. By the time they got to Bakersfield (~1hr away), Heather's hand and arm became worse and she was slurring her speech.

Urgent care referred her to the ER doctor. Immediately they admitted her to the hospital for a CT Scan and MRI of her brain. A mass was found and they suspected a tumor. Heather's hand, arm and speech were getting worse. Mom and Jennifer returned to take care of the kids while Tim rushed down to the hospital, but Heather was not there. They had already transferred her to Kaiser Sunset in L.A. Tim continued on to L.A. leaving his newborn, 3-year old and their world behind to be with his wife.

Brain surgery was the next morning and I remember how terrified Heather and Tim were. What was supposed to be an hour long surgery took well over 6. By the grace of God they did not find a tumor, but rather a severe infection and abscess. After the surgery Heather lost most control of her entire right side of her body and a long road to recovery begun.

The hardest part for me was the fact that the hospital facilities wouldn't allow the kids and their parents to visit because of Covid restrictions in place at the time. Thank God they can be together now, but still...

Friends - this is no joke. Heather and Tim need your help.

Please help. A nickel is better than nothing, but $5.00 goes a lot further if you know what I mean.

Love you all and thank you.

Gary