Chris' funeral exps, Allie support
Donation protected
Dear Family and Friends,
I am sending this out on behalf of Chris Bacuetes. As you may know, Chris passed away last night. I had planned to send this prior to his death, but didn't get it done in time. Honestly, I don't think I could have written and sent this earlier, as Chris would have been incredibly upset with me.
So as you may know, Chris was Uncle Nando and Aunt Rose's (Nando and Rose if they weren't your aunt and uncle) only child together. He actually was born in the same year as Chris Wahl and Sidney Buniff (cousins).
I guess the part of this that tears me apart is not so much that after his death he needs our help, it's more that he has spent the vast majority of his life doing the right things to not need anyone's help. For the last several years, he followed doctor's orders religiously. He did what his doctors asked him to do--what they felt was the right thing for him to do to make sure he stayed as healthy as possible.
When they told him to make sure he was getting exercise, he started walking. He walked a couple of miles a day, every other day, for years, as long as his body would let him. Even as the life in his organs was slowly dissipating, he impressed the doctors with his will, his positive attitude, even his ability to find humor in all aspects of his life.
If you talked to him six or seven years ago, you would have gotten a strong sense of his love and passion for life and for his daughter, Allie. In the last couple of years, as the complications from his childhood affliction began to take more away from him, you could still sense his passion and will to live, but he became more and more focused on Allie. Everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, he did was about trying to make sure she was prepared for life without him.
I have to tell you, I've always admired him for his ability to overcome adversity and for so many other things. Here's a guy to whom life decided to throw the cruelest of curve balls--whose dad passed away when he was only 11 or 12, and even before that he had to fight Hodgkin's lymphoma (Hodgkin's disease). He survived it. He defeated it. He recovered, but the long term damage was done. His internal organs--his kidneys, his heart, his liver--were all damaged by the radiation and the chemo.
This long term damage is what has caused his medical problems throughout his life and in particular for the last few decades, including causing him to need heart bypass surgery in his early 30s.
I have to say this again, Chris has always been one of the most positive people I have ever known. He's never complained; he has always worked to figure out what he could do, what was necessary to do. I admired him so much for his perspective on life.
Now at the age of 42, Chris has died. He didn't live extravagantly--he lived in a rented trailer; he drove an old car. He's spent the last several years basically doing what he could to prepare his fifteen year old daughter for life without him. Even in preparing for his death, his focus always was Allie.
Well, here's the reason I've set this up. I figure we're a huge family, a family that is spread quite geographically across the country and beyond, and also Chris has a large network of friends. Chris, in his death, needs help paying for his expenses. Chris wanted as low cost a burial as possible. He didn't want to spend money that could be better used to help Allie. He's going to be cremated, and he doesn't want a formal funeral. Rather, at Chris' request, his friends will host a simple celebration of his life.
Cremation and miscellaneous funeral expenses are expected to be $1500 - $2500. Any additional donations will be given to Allie to help pay for her upcoming life expenses.
Thanks everyone,
--Mike
----> as a closing comment, if you want to make an offline donation, please, please call me (504) [phone redacted] or contact me from the contact button on this page. I will provide my address. Offline donations do not incur a service fee from the website provider.
I am sending this out on behalf of Chris Bacuetes. As you may know, Chris passed away last night. I had planned to send this prior to his death, but didn't get it done in time. Honestly, I don't think I could have written and sent this earlier, as Chris would have been incredibly upset with me.
So as you may know, Chris was Uncle Nando and Aunt Rose's (Nando and Rose if they weren't your aunt and uncle) only child together. He actually was born in the same year as Chris Wahl and Sidney Buniff (cousins).
I guess the part of this that tears me apart is not so much that after his death he needs our help, it's more that he has spent the vast majority of his life doing the right things to not need anyone's help. For the last several years, he followed doctor's orders religiously. He did what his doctors asked him to do--what they felt was the right thing for him to do to make sure he stayed as healthy as possible.
When they told him to make sure he was getting exercise, he started walking. He walked a couple of miles a day, every other day, for years, as long as his body would let him. Even as the life in his organs was slowly dissipating, he impressed the doctors with his will, his positive attitude, even his ability to find humor in all aspects of his life.
If you talked to him six or seven years ago, you would have gotten a strong sense of his love and passion for life and for his daughter, Allie. In the last couple of years, as the complications from his childhood affliction began to take more away from him, you could still sense his passion and will to live, but he became more and more focused on Allie. Everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, he did was about trying to make sure she was prepared for life without him.
I have to tell you, I've always admired him for his ability to overcome adversity and for so many other things. Here's a guy to whom life decided to throw the cruelest of curve balls--whose dad passed away when he was only 11 or 12, and even before that he had to fight Hodgkin's lymphoma (Hodgkin's disease). He survived it. He defeated it. He recovered, but the long term damage was done. His internal organs--his kidneys, his heart, his liver--were all damaged by the radiation and the chemo.
This long term damage is what has caused his medical problems throughout his life and in particular for the last few decades, including causing him to need heart bypass surgery in his early 30s.
I have to say this again, Chris has always been one of the most positive people I have ever known. He's never complained; he has always worked to figure out what he could do, what was necessary to do. I admired him so much for his perspective on life.
Now at the age of 42, Chris has died. He didn't live extravagantly--he lived in a rented trailer; he drove an old car. He's spent the last several years basically doing what he could to prepare his fifteen year old daughter for life without him. Even in preparing for his death, his focus always was Allie.
Well, here's the reason I've set this up. I figure we're a huge family, a family that is spread quite geographically across the country and beyond, and also Chris has a large network of friends. Chris, in his death, needs help paying for his expenses. Chris wanted as low cost a burial as possible. He didn't want to spend money that could be better used to help Allie. He's going to be cremated, and he doesn't want a formal funeral. Rather, at Chris' request, his friends will host a simple celebration of his life.
Cremation and miscellaneous funeral expenses are expected to be $1500 - $2500. Any additional donations will be given to Allie to help pay for her upcoming life expenses.
Thanks everyone,
--Mike
----> as a closing comment, if you want to make an offline donation, please, please call me (504) [phone redacted] or contact me from the contact button on this page. I will provide my address. Offline donations do not incur a service fee from the website provider.
Organizer
Mike Molaison
Organizer
New Orleans, LA