My name is Connie and a good friend of mine here in Campbell River BC, Mirian Cegnar, can really use our help! She needs to get her vehicle repaired so she can continue to work, drive her & her husband to their medical appointments, and through all this learn to take deep breaths, and let her stress level drop before she has more health issues! Regardless of her own struggles, Mirian always thinks of what she can do to help others! She gives away food, possessions, & even money - helping the people she sees! Over the last while, coping with everything has become harder, but regardless of her own situations, she still continues to give support to anyone she meets! She has a heart of gold! Here are a few facts about her life. 1. Her husband has dementia. He is very demanding. He has medical equipment he needs as well as medication. With his dementia, he feels he can still do everything and is constantly after Mirian to buy this, cook that. During all this he constantly tells her she isn’t as capable as he with everything she does. He demands her time and doesn’t care that she works and might be tired! 2. In spite of her busy schedules, When asked, she helps look after her grandson and his dog. Picking him up, dropping him off, lending her car to the older grandson, going to the sports and musical performances as well as volunteering her time and resources for many of these as well. 3. Within the 6-12 months she has developed numerous health issues. One being diabetes, and needing to have insulin injections. Then she was in pain, sick in bed, for 3 weeks, before being diagnosed with Diverticulitis. A few years back she also became a cancer survivor! Medical issues seem to be abundant in her life! If anyone has been a caregiver, for any issues, you know how difficult it can be. A dementia caregiver like all others is a 24/7 job. She not only deals with the loss of Mike no longer being who she married all those years ago, but also deals with his outrage and constant bullying. She is definitely in the burn out stage. All that being said, this week she finds out that the car insurance she ‘knew’ she had renewed, she didn’t! Sigh This is one of the many things that can go wrong when dealing with the stress of many different issues in life! She called the company to make a change & renew her policy. She assumed that the renewal was being processed. We find out now she was a few weeks too early. They renew only within 45 days of expiry! During the phone call She asked if all was done, the reply, “Yes! All is good!” After this call she believed her insurance was renewed. It wasn’t! She honestly believed the insurance papers were in the glove box. She’d seen them! Unfortunately, it was last years insurance forms she saw. We wonder why the company didn’t send out a letter, or call her, stating her insurance wasn’t renewed! Some might ask, why didn’t she notice? Well, dealing with being pulled in many directions at the same time, between work, handling finances, a husband with dementia, family, and her own health! It’s a wonder she is still standing! Mistakes happen. Most times these are dealt with and all is as before. This time however, it was much more serious! Mirian & I hit a deer on the highway on the way home from the Parksville just after 10pm on Tuesday July 18. It was dark. We were driving the speed limit and came to a complete stop as the deer landed (must have jumped) right in front of us! There was no time to do anything! Air bags deployed. We were just over an hour from home. The Police & tow truck came by, the car was towed. Miraculously we stopped right away! No skidding on the road! Driving, hit, stop! I turned off the car, turned on the 4 way flashers and sat there! The airbags were Smokey! The smell terrible! There we sat, stunned! Amazing but, We didn’t fall forward with the seatbelts cinching us! The stuff in the back, like my small table loose on top of the crates, or the crates themselves, didn’t fall forward and hit us! We were uninjured! The car and deer were not. Her car, without insurance, has just over $10,000 damage including $6,000 of it being the airbag replacements! Plus due to not having her vehicle, she had to cancel jobs and markets. Therefore her stress and financial situation went from bad to worse! These funds will be used to fix the car! Her husband with dementia is yelling at her daily about the insurance and telling her he will find the parts and do the work himself! He doesn’t believe he is sick and is making her stressful life even harder. He takes things out of the cupboards and has trouble with remembering how to put them back! We can just imagine how the car will be if he can even take it apart! Let alone put it together! A wonderful friend has lent her a car for about a month. It cannot be driven to markets out of town. Hence more loss of income. But it helps right now so she isn’t relying on others to drive her to dr appointments, etc. The sooner the parts are ordered and the car fixed, the sooner life can hopefully return to some semblance of normal. After this very long story, I am asking if anyone has it in their heart to help raise these funds for our friend Mirian. Any bit you send can help to alleviate some of the stress Mirian is dealing with on a daily basis. Your time and help is so appreciated, blessings Connie Ritchie If you have any questions, or wish to E-transfer funds directly, please feel free to contact me, Connie, via this page.
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