Help and Hope for Heidi and Junior

My uncle, Henry Pittman, Jr., or “Junior” to those of us who love him, is facing the hardest journey of his life thus far. I say those who “love” him rather than those who “know” him, because it’s one in the same. Junior has been married to his wife, Heidi, for 27 years, and they are the parents of four children. The goal of this fundraiser is to provide funding for medical expenses for Junior and help to cover family financial obligations, due to his unexpected and unavoidable future absences from work.


The Pittman’s path to parenthood was a long and difficult one. For 10 years, they tried unsuccessfully to conceive, but were blessed with their first daughter, Nora in 2002. Their daughter, Maggie, and son, Josh, followed, and then six years ago the family was completed with their last daughter, Molly, who was born with Down Syndrome. Heidi has been a stay-at-home mom since the birth of her second child, and Junior is a marine mechanic.


Over the years, Junior has worked as hard as anyone I’ve ever known to provide for his family. He works weekends, nights, holidays, and never complains. It’s not rare at all for him to fall asleep in his office chair from exhaustion, just too tired to even make it to bed. He is good and kind and proud of his family. After many years of struggling to make ends meet, in November 2018, Junior was able to fulfill a lifetime dream for his family by buying them a new home. He also moved his elderly and ailing mother in with the family as she was unable to continue living alone. Money has always been tight, as any middle class person trying to support a family on one income can understand. Not only did the family have the typical expenses, but there were additional medical bills and therapy costs associated with Molly’s Down Syndrome. However, with hard work and God on their side, Heidi and Junior have always made it work.


A few months ago, Junior started having some health concerns. As he always has, he put himself on the back burner and dealt with the pain and inconvenience. He didn’t even tell Heidi, because he didn’t want to worry her. He continued working overtime and doing all he could to provide for the family. When the symptoms became too painful and started to interfere in his ability to work, he finally had to give in and saw a doctor. While testing is not completed yet, we are certain that Junior’s health concerns are very serious. There are multiple issues going on, and while I don’t want to go into too much detail due to his privacy, I will say that he is undergoing extensive testing for cancer and arterial issues. 


So, we have come to the reason for my having reached out to our friends and family for help. While the testing and work absences have just begun, the expenses are already becoming overwhelming for the family. Because he is the only financial provider for the family, not only is he racking up medical expenses, but his illness isn’t allowing him to earn in his typical capacity. It took considerable convincing for Junior to even allow me to ask for help. I had to remind him of all the times he has helped others. He is one of the most generous and giving people I have ever known. He is a gentle giant, soft-spoken and kind. My wish is to build a fund that will help cover medical expenses and supplement his decreased income in order to help with the family’s normal expenses. The worry of failing health and the unknown is more than enough to have to bear; money shouldn’t even be a concern at this time. Thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity. I know that with all of our support Junior can beat this and come out the other side better than ever!