A message from Betsy's Family:
You are not just help. You are saviors. Every one of you will always be in our hearts.
We were lucky. It may not sound lucky that our heat went out the evening before the snowstorm. But the HVAC guy said with the combustion housing in pieces, it’s a miracle we didn’t have a fire or CO2 poisoning.
My husband is an Iraq/Afghanistan war veteran with PTSD and anxiety. He was awarded the Purple Heart. But our furnace situation gave us both lots to worry over.
My husband is an Iraq/Afghanistan war veteran with PTSD and anxiety. He was awarded the Purple Heart. But our furnace situation gave us both lots to worry over.
On top of it all, our beloved dog Betsy woke up, as we were hunkering in with space heaters, vomiting and barely able to stand. Our vet said it was likely a bowel obstruction and she needed seen at the ER to attempt to save her life.
WHAT? The companion that provides the unspoken bond and support that keeps my husband grounded. The slipper carrier and snuggler for our 6 and 10-year-old daughters. Oh, and the best friend to our big dog and goat as well.
The ER said they needed $6800 right then to treat her. Payments were not an option. I called every ER between Dayton and Cincinnati. But the answer was the same.
But just yesterday I was watching her sleep with her tongue lolling out. She came rushing in when we told her we’d give her some “steak”. (That’s code for an ice cube—her treat since she’s watching her weight). So many sweet memories flooded in.
Getting a call from my husband and older daughter about the cost of surgery—knowing we had just financed a new furnace (that would hopefully arrive soon) and could get no more credit—was gut-wrenching. We were all four panicked.
When they called back sobbing, I feared the worst. Was she gone? But they were calling with good news about help from the people who support Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund. I couldn’t find words—only tears of gratitude and relief. I am still completely in shock. You are not just help. You are saviors. Every one of you will always be in our hearts.
