A true story of great need

beckyzoole is a wise and well-spoken advocate for our friends, the_geoffrey, otterhill and their youngling, Miss Elizabeth the Adorable. Read her words (I stole it straight from her journal for those who don't want to click the link themselves), and please, please! find some small donation to spare them.

*************************************************************************
otterhill and her husband the_geoffrey are in great need of help. Please consider donating a few bucks to them via Paypal.

Three years ago otterhill was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her insurance covered the surgery and chemotherapy, but they still incurred large and unexpected expenses.

otterhill's doctor told her she had prematurely entered menopause because of the chemotherapy. Surprise surprise! Eighteen months ago she was reassured to learn that the cancer had not metastasized. No, the reason why she was tired, nauseated, and felt a lump in her abdomen was good old fashioned pregnancy, and she was already in her seventh month!

the_geoffrey and otterhill welcomed their first child, their miracle baby Elizabeth. Although they love her dearly, of course delivering and outfitting a baby was another large and unexpected expense.

In the meantime, both the_geoffrey and otterhill had lost their jobs. She has found another one, and he recently got a temp-to-perm position, but they ran up even more debt.

In fact, they are now in foreclosure. The bank is taking possession of their home, and they must move out this Saturday. (This is the big old ramshackle house that was falling down around their ears when they bought it, that they've put so much work and love into.)

Could things get any worse? Yes, they could. It looks like the cancer is back.

otterhill is getting a biopsy tomorrow to confirm it, but her doctor is fairly certain that the lump she just felt is a reoccurence of the breast cancer.

Homeless, sick, with a year-old baby; at least otterhill has a loving husband and supportive friends. But what this family could really use is cash.

Please give a dollar or two, and link to this post in your own journal. If everyone on my flist and my friends-of-friends list would give $5 each, they just might have enough to buy back the house. (Or at least to move out of their friend's basement.)

Gratuitous cute picture of their baby Elizabeth in her Halloween Lion costume:

*************************************************************************

Also (this is featherbrains, the mouse again!), any locals who plan to come to Munch this week-end (rather than helping with the Big Move, which I must admit is a reasonable excuse--this time!--to skip Cici's), Pete the Unspeakable will bring a donation jar--throw in the price of a pizza, maybe--and I'll send the proceeds to their PayPal account forthwith and post haste.

Of course, you can PayPal now and pitch in a little more later, too. *grin*

*Editted to include beckyzoole's post (link to hers, if you want to link to anything) because maiabee8 had a good point.

**And editted yet again to correct the effects of crossed synapses. *blush*