Erik Florip & Family

Hi All,

My name is Tabetha and I'm fundraising on behalf of my friend, Erik Florip. On Thursday, June 23rd after 12 days of debilitating headaches, Erik was diagnosed with a primary brain tumor. After a long and scary 24 hours, Erik underwent a emergency brain surgery to remove the mass. The risks were high with potential loss of mobility on his left side due to the size and location of the tumor, but just shy of 4 hours later the doctors were happy to report they were able to resect 95%. In order to eliminate additional fluid build up they placed a shunt for drainage and he's currently recovering in the ICU at Munson Medical Center. His neuro and muscular function are great and he's in good spirits.

Though we are all relieved he's doing so well, we know he has a long road to recovery and we are still several days away from finding out the results of the biopsy. Minimally, Erik is looking at a 4-6 week recovery and the rehabilitation process will be a journey to say the least.

Erik and his wife Temple met under some wild circumstances, but they knew they had something good. They decided to throw caution to the wind, and recently celebrated their 10 year wedding anniversary. Shortly after they were married, during the wee hours of the day in Oceanside CA, they welcomed their amazing daughter Ella into the world. Ella is truly the light of their lives. Whether they are taking a family hike, or snuggling with their kitties (Ella & Temple mostly-- Erik's more of a dog guy), they are happiest when they're together.

Erik is a 2003 graduate of Glen Lake Community Schools in Maple City, Michigan. A resident of Lake Ann at that time, it wasn't long after Ella was born that he knew he wanted her to experience the area that he did growing up. Convincing Temple that winter was going to be fun (we still don't know how he did that) they made the trek in 2015 from California to Traverse City, Michigan where they've created a wonderful community of close friends.

Erik began woodworking in 2012 while on active duty in the US Marine Corps. Not long after getting the woodworking bug he started shopping for a handsaw to give dovetails a shot. He found a lot of high price options, and being a hobbyist, he couldn’t justify spending a lot of money on a new handsaw. So he opted for an old Disston found at an estate sale. He learned how to sharpen on this saw and was a good user after the restoration. After that, he got the idea to try building his own saw…it wasn’t pretty but it worked. After that he was hooked on tool making. With no experience in making tools or operating machinery (he didn't even know what a metal lathe was) he decided to dive headfirst into the process of making saws and hasn't stopped since. He's spent many thousands of hours working on his process and all the hard work has paid off. He nowbuilds saws that can go head-to-head with any other saws on the market.

Because Erik is so hands-on with his business, it does not function without him. With months of orders backing up, not to mention his already long waitlist for specialty saws, we want to make sure Erik and his family don't experience any financial strain. With so many unknowns, let's do all we can to support him. Thank you in advance!

Light & Love