REBUILD THE DREAM

Before Matthew
After Matthew
Before Matthew
After Matthew

Hurricane Matthew DEMOLISHED OUR DREAM.
Please read all the way through to see how you can help us rebuild the dream.

Our names are Tad and Gina Tomaseski and we live in Dallas TX and we own a property called Aqua Vista.
Aqua Vista is a very special home for us as it has been an saving place during very challenging times.  Aqua Vista is much more than just a vacation spot, it is an experience, a connection with such beautiful nature in such a peaceful quiet setting, that you can disconnect from any and all worries and stress of life.  You can truly forget it all at Aqua Vista.  It is equally an effective place to connect with a loved one in your life, in a way not possible anywhere else.  It is such a special, one of a kind experience.  It has been a place great memories to so many people as we allow them to rent our home for thier vacations, weddings, anniversarys, etc.

Sadly, Hurricane Matthew has completely destroyed the greatest dock that has ever existed! The Aqua Vista dock was an absolute Paradise! Matthew also destroyed the airconditioner, the pump house & equipment, and most of the landscaping.  Fortunately the home structure itself is in pretty much intact, but all these other things are a complete loss. 

Now let me clarify, I'M NOT EXPECTING ANYBODY TO FEEL SORRY FOR ME, nor do I even propose my loss is anything remotely comparable to those that have lost thier homes and lives in the hurricane.  If you need an explanation why I am doing this campaign, you can read through and I explain more thoroughly at the end.

So, let's just say this comes at a very inopertune time, that's not to say there is actually ever a good time for this to happen, but let's just say the money is not there to rebuild right now and there are many people that have planned thier upcoming special experiences at Aqua Vista in the very near future, so we need your help to rebuild quickly and need to raise these funds to do so by November 5th.

I know there are many others here on GoFundMe that have much more dire situations, and in now way should this campaign be considered to be a need like those in dire need.  

See Aqua Vista in it's glory at www.vrbo.com/484244

I want to thank you for helping us rebuild our dream that is building dreams for so many others, and we look forward to you experiencing a DREAM VACATION at Aqua Vista yourself!!!

Blessings,
Tad Tomaseski

NOW FOR THE EXPLANATION OF WHY I AM DOING THIS CAMPAIGN FOR THOSE CONCERNED:

I thought I would take a moment to address a couple of comments posted about my gofundme campaign.
Here is one of the comments "Shouldn't people with frivolous assests in hurricane zones be able to pay for their leisure docks themselves, so people who are actually going without food, water, and shelter can get the attention and help they need? Just a thought." Allow me to say ABSOLUTELY! I completely agree!
The other comment was along the same line but used more explicative terms like "rich asshole" and such LOL

So allow me to give more depth to the story just for the heck of it, not that it will change the minds of those who merely want to judge anyway.

Before the explanation, let me also clarify that none of this is to make anybody "feel sorry" or "feel compelled" to get involved. Nobody should ever feel sorry for me because I am a blessed man. Nobody should ever feel that I in anyway need a hand up or a hand out. I always find a way on my own. This time I decided to take an approach I wasn't necessarily comfortable with, so let me tell the story.

When a close friend told me I should pursue a gofundme campaign for this situation my first thought was "well that's not right, I in no way have a need that compares in anyway to people that are devastated by Hurricane Matthew and other such tragedies." But they encouraged me to look at gofundme to understand what it is really about. Sure enough, as I studied gofund me, I discovered people are looking for help to start a business, compete in sporting events, go on honeymoons, replace luxury electronics that were stolen, etc. All of which throughout my life I have had a need for and met those needs on my own by working hard and making sacrifices. I have never felt others should help me with such non-necessities, nor do I feel people need to help me with this situation, yet as I have already seen, people want to help.

Now, let me clarify why we have this house. We are not just "rich assholes" as stated in the comment, looking for places to put fun money. 3 years ago, my wife and I were in the midst of dealing with life altering medical diagnosis of genetic conditions, we had each received just a year or two apart from each other. Both diagnosis offering a bleak, crippling and or shorter future.

At that time we really did not have a plan for income if we were not able to work. We had just watched everybody lose all of their money in the stock market crash and knew that was not the way to go. We had focused so much on giving over the last 25 years together, that we hadn't effectively set ourselves up to be prepared for what potentially lied ahead.

I have a family member that owns a vacation rental that does very well. I kept my eyes out and found Aqua Vista for an unbelievable price. We didn't have the money to make it happen...but I made it happen! It needed a lot of work and we sunk every penny we had into it to make it perfect for our future guests.

The goal being that it would provide a secure income for us, while increasing in value. Which is what most hope to happen from their 401K, but we have all seen it doesn't go just that way.

Aqua Vista was a hit and all that came made great memories, and that brought me so much more joy, to know we could create special moments for people, that would last a lifetime. So much more rewarding than collecting stock dividends.

We have been able to take a few trips to detach and heal together from all we faced at home. We have actually not been able to visit ourselves for almost 2 years now, as my wife's previous job was with a company that was crumbling at the same time I stepped away from a secure job with a secure paycheck to try and pursue something that would better set us up for the future.

Most recently we moved into a home that needed much more work than we expected and has drained our resources and just this last Monday, two days before the destruction, my wife had to have major emergency surgery. All that to say, normally we would be in a place to make this happen on our own, and given time to recoup from these other things, we would be able to do so. But we don't have time, as every month the house would be down for rentals would cost us thousands of dollars in refunds, we would still have to carry the overhead, and our guests dreams would be destroyed as they would have no place to stay and miss out on what they had been planning for all year.

So...all that to say "DON'T FEEL SORRY FOR US" we are blessed beyond belief and we will find our way through this. But if you want to participate in the rebuild, then do so and know how much fun and joy you will be bringing to the lives of so many.

...and if you read this all the way through, I'm amazed! Thanks everybody!!!

FYI: All money being raised goes directly to supplies for rebuilding.  No travel expenses or anything of that nature will come from these funds.  My father and nephew are traveling down at thier own expense and I am traveling free on miles I have accumulated on an American Airlines charge card.  We are all working together along with some locals to rebuild the dream.