Wednesday, July 22, 2009

a much needed vacation for a deserving family

Me and Mandy when I went down to California for her Dad's funeral

Johnny and Natalie


My good friend Mandy moved her family back in with her parents when her husband was unfaithful, and has been going through a lot of hard times dealing with the ending of her marriage and being a single parent, she knew the best thing for her kids was for her to stay home with them, her parents made enough money to support them all. All of us that love her did everything we could to help get her through the heartbreak, and she was doing pretty good until March when more heartbreak occured. I got a frantic call from her at 8 in the morning telling me her father collapsed early that morning and was in the hospital. All day I talked to family as his condition got worse, at about 9 o'clock that night I got the call I was dreading. He was gone. I called her the next day and asked her what I could do. She said "Please come to the funeral." I talked to my husband and booked the flight right away. Mandy was taking it REALLY hard, her dad was her rock, and with him gone she was lost. She felt abandoned, both of the men she counted on the most had left her. I hated to leave her like that, but I called her almost everyday and she surprisingly felt a little better after talking to me.

I wish I could say that was the end of the sad part, but in the beginning of April she found out her 3 year old son Johnny is autistic. He's a great kid, and his Mom and Grandma are doing EVERYTHING they can to help him. He's in therapies and on a gluten free dairy free diet. Mandy isn't just my friend, in a way she's my hero. I have seen how hard she is taking her divorce and Dad's death, and yet she is an amazing Mom and puts Johnny and Natalie first.

Why am I telling you this?

Mandy and her kids are coming here to visit and get a break from everything. Our kids are the same ages, and Mandy and I became friends by her coming up to visit her family(which my Dad married into). We know it will be a blast. The problem is after funding my emergency trip to Cali, we are tapped out. Mandy says it's fine, but I know the money is coming out of their pocket. They need that money to live, so that's why I'm coming to you, if I could get 500 people to donate 1 dollar, the plane tickets are paid for. I could also use help in advertising this. I put a chipIn button on my page for those of you that can donate, I would LOVE you to post one on your blogs for me as well. Just copy the chipIn widget and link it to this url: http://www.chipin.com/mywidgets/id/bc38b4cc59153f18

I hope to hear from lots of you. It may seem like a silly thing, but this is a much needed vacation for a great family, and with your help it could be nearly free for them in a time where money is very tight. One dollar or a link on your page(or both) is all I'm asking. Thanks guys.

If this goes well I'd love to start a fund raising program for worthy causes that seem small, but mean a lot to worthy people.

~Amber

4 comments:

Amber said...

What a great thing to do for your friend :-)

p.s. yay for PINK haired mamas!!!
(and Ambers)

Tricia said...

oh my gosh that poor girl I'll keep her in my thoughts and prayers

wish I could help my hubby was laid off for 6m and just got back 2 work

Jenn said...

Hey, I'm Mandy's friend too, and I'm ashamed to say I had NO IDEA that all this was going on in her life. She's such a positive person... the last time I talked to her, she told me her dad had died (or I saw the tribute photos on her page) and I had no idea about her husband or any of that. She is such a sweet, wonderful person and she deserves so much more than 500 dollars for what she's been through, and for taking it all with such grace. If I can, I'd like to help... my husband's kinda paranoid about sending money via internet though... contact me on myspace (hopefully you have one...) I'm at myspace.com/camswifie. Thank you so much!

MaggieM said...

I heard about your blog site and Mandy's story from 5 Minutes for Mom's blog (I'm a subscriber), and applaud you for your efforts. I think we should all help each other out whenever possible, and, although I don't know you or Mandy, I'm happy to contribute to the cause:) Bless you for welcoming Mandy and her children into your own for a well-deserved break:)

maggie@mannwieler.com