Help Bring Color and a Smile to Lyn

My name is Patty and I am fundraising to purchase a special gift that will bring joy and color for a very special person, Lyn Garling. The reason I am using this format is the timeline is very short which I will explain later. This is also a surprise so please do not mention this to her.

 

Those of you who know her well will know that Lyn has never really spent money on herself except for a few trips to fun places. She usually gets her clothes and furniture at thrift stores. She buys her cars very used. Lyn worked very hard at Penn State for a program she cared deeply about. Often working well over 40 hours a week during grant writing time. She also worked a full-time job building Over the Moon Farm so that she could raise healthy meats for people who really cared about quality and health in their diet. She poured her profits back into the farm to build a turnkey business for another farmer. It was very tough for her to see it go to someone not wanting to carry on that business.

 

This past year has been a challenging and stressful year for Lyn starting with her fall on Christmas Eve 2020. Lyn realized immediately how blessed she was not to have died or been permanently injured from that fall. And in typical Lyn style, she decided to sell the farm and move to a place that the sun shines and makes her happy. (Lyn hated the gray days of PA even though she loved the people.) She knew time was precious and she wanted to enjoy what she had left. So here we are in Santa Fe, NM after a stressful year of getting the farm ready to sell, getting rid of most everything we owned and then moving across the country without a new home of our own to settle in. The plan was to look around NM until we found where we wanted to live while staying in the house of old friends who were so kind to share their second home with us. We landed in Santa Fe and fell in love. We didn’t realize how fast houses move in the Santa Fe market which was causing a great deal of stress on both of us. We didn’t know it would feel so unsettling to not be in a place of our own either. And yet, just as all the crazy feelings were coming to a head, the universe handed us a house that wasn’t even on the market yet. We knew we had to act fast, and we had to pay full price up front in cash to get it. Again, if you know Lyn well you know that finding a house with 1.75 acres, a city park in front, 17 acres of undeveloped land behind it that offers a view to her beloved mountains and right next to bike and walking trails was a must for her. The bonus was that the house, though small, was well cared for by the same woman for 60 years. We not only got a new house, but we also made a new friend who will hopefully come and sit on the porch with us for many a conversation. The down side it is very beige and Lyn loves color and brightness.

 

The reason for this tale is that now that we have a house, we need furniture. So, off we go to the secondhand stores to look for a couch. Lyn really fell for a beautiful yellow leather couch and ottoman. And Lyn does not usually express a feeling for a material thing like that. She sat down and said this is going to cost $4,000 before fees, taxes and delivery. I looked at the tag and sure enough, she was right. (Second hand in Santa Fe runs high although it is quality.) There was no way we could afford that after just buying the house. The more I thought about it I just wanted to see her be able to curl up on that couch in the evenings and read after all she has been through. It would be a small pleasure that I believe Lyn deserves after all that she has worked to do for others including the ongoing care of her cousin's care. And so, I am asking any of you who would be willing to pitch in to help get Lyn a housewarming/birthday gift (coming up in Feb.) that she will really love, please donate to this Go Fund Me campaign to buy this sofa and ottoman. The challenge is that nothing in Santa Fe even has time to get dust on it let alone grow moss. I was able to get the owner of the store to hold it for me but she will only hold it until next week. If this is to happen, I need to raise the money by Monday. If not, I’ll have to let it go. So, if Lyn has ever touched your life in a way that you would like to offer something back, please donate today. She will probably be mad at me for doing this and yet I know she will be grateful every time she curls up on this sofa. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Patty