Help Melissa and Vinny's Big Move
Donation protected
On February 10 I got a devastating phone call. My mother's elective pacemaker surgery did not go well. They were trying to put a third lead in her pacemaker when complications arose, leading to cardiac arrest. By Sunday morning it was 100% clear that she was gone. She was 58 years old.
My mother was the most selfless, curious, magical, passionate and fierce person I have ever met. My thirteen-year-old brother Vinny and I have experienced the loss of our mother, our best friend, and our hero, all at once.
Our future is forever changed, but we know what to do: I am the legal guardian of my brother, and we will support each other in this hard time. Over the next four months Vinny will complete 8th grade while I continue to work with an estate lawyer, figure out how to sell a house, and make hard decisions about the lifetime of objects from my mom's life as well as my and Vinny's childhood, my dad's most precious belongings (he passed in 2009), and items from my grandparents house.
Many of you have reached out on Facebook asking how you can help. We need to move out to the East Coast sometime this summer. We have family on both of my parents' sides in NJ and PA who would love to see us more often and help us feel less alone after this huge change. Also, as I am still young (heading to 30!) and have a big network of job experiences, friends, and general cultural knowledge in the NYC area, it makes sense to go back there to give both of us the best opportunity for a successful life.
It won't be a small move. We are looking into apartments in NJ and parts of NYC, and we will need a moving truck to bring some of the belongings to a storage unit and some to our new apartment. The cost of all of this will be at least $5,000. We will pack all of the belongings ourselves.
I appreciate everyone's condolences on Facebook over the past week, and please know that I deeply appreciate any amount any of you give to help our ambitious move cross-country.
My mother was the most selfless, curious, magical, passionate and fierce person I have ever met. My thirteen-year-old brother Vinny and I have experienced the loss of our mother, our best friend, and our hero, all at once.
Our future is forever changed, but we know what to do: I am the legal guardian of my brother, and we will support each other in this hard time. Over the next four months Vinny will complete 8th grade while I continue to work with an estate lawyer, figure out how to sell a house, and make hard decisions about the lifetime of objects from my mom's life as well as my and Vinny's childhood, my dad's most precious belongings (he passed in 2009), and items from my grandparents house.
Many of you have reached out on Facebook asking how you can help. We need to move out to the East Coast sometime this summer. We have family on both of my parents' sides in NJ and PA who would love to see us more often and help us feel less alone after this huge change. Also, as I am still young (heading to 30!) and have a big network of job experiences, friends, and general cultural knowledge in the NYC area, it makes sense to go back there to give both of us the best opportunity for a successful life.
It won't be a small move. We are looking into apartments in NJ and parts of NYC, and we will need a moving truck to bring some of the belongings to a storage unit and some to our new apartment. The cost of all of this will be at least $5,000. We will pack all of the belongings ourselves.
I appreciate everyone's condolences on Facebook over the past week, and please know that I deeply appreciate any amount any of you give to help our ambitious move cross-country.
Organizer
Melissa Caminneci
Organizer
Cedar Rapids, IA
