Show Gina YOUR heart

This is Gina. She is 17 years young and she is my daughters best friend and her mother is mine! Gina is getting ready for her THIRD open heart surgery  scheduled for Dec. 3, 2018, to repair or replace a leaky aortic valve and a narrowed conduit to her heart. Her heart is stressed to the point that Gina lacks the energy and strength to even climb a flight of stairs, which makes it time for surgery.  For Gina, this is a way of life, with the hope that surgery allows her to return to school again and to her otherwise “normal” life. 

Gina is like every other teenager, except she was born with this genetic defect that affected her heart, and overall immune system. She’s a creative artist who hopes to go to college and become an illustrator one day. She is quiet, kind and determined.  

Her’s is a struggle that is noticed and supported.  What often goes unnoticed however, is the daily challenges her family undergoes dealing with the financial, emotional and physical toll it takes on everyone.  Her mom is a single mother, who will give the shirt off her back to help others, but now she needs our help.  Gina also has 2 older brothers.  

I am putting together this fundraiser to help take some of the financial stress off the family so they can concentrate on what is really important, Gina’s health.  I have watched many families including my own, struggle when caring for a child in need of constant medical care.  I watched almost helpless as a child growing up with a brother born with Cerebral Palsy, as my parents, especially my mother, struggle personally, mentally, emotionally and physically; selflessly caring for him, always believing in the absolute gift he was to our family.  Now I watch again as Gina’s mother, my best friend, navigates a similar journey with the management of countless appointments, arrangements with school providers, advocating for care etc., not to mention the emotional stress that has made it very difficult for her to have steady employment and make ends meet.  

This time I am not helpless, and I have been there to provide physical and emotional support but they need more help than I alone can provide.  I believe there is no greater service than caring for our children, and it is these special children that teach us gratefulness and love beyond measure.  I am blessed and grateful each day that I have 2 healthy children, and that I can be part of the solution.  Please help me, help her to get through this difficult time, and send a message to Gina and her family of the love that is in the world and most importantly that we care!! I’m deeply grateful for any help that you can provide.

If you are inspired, please give. Any amount is appreciated.  

Please share, it takes a village.  

Either way,  thank you for sending your prayers and thoughts of love to Gina and her family, and participating in a circuit that is larger than the love in this fundraiser.