Support Gary's Wife: Relieve Financial Burden

** Progress Report 08/02/2024 ** So far, I have been sent $193.00. That has been paid to the principal balance on the loan. Thank you so much for your support, whether by donating or spreading the word!

Hello. My name is Gary, and I am asking for help in relieving my wife from a financial burden that will fall upon her at my death. I have Stage IV cancer and hope that I don't leave my wife with this situation pending.

I am starting this fundraiser to handle the worst-case scenario, and here is the reason:

My wife and I were living a solid middle-class lifestyle in Burleson, Texas. I am 71 years old, and to be able to maintain this lifestyle I was going to need to work, at least part time, for the rest of my life. That was okay with me, but what this meant was that we would rarely, if ever, see family. We had no family in Texas. Our family lives in the Iowa/Illinois Quad Cities, Sarasota, FL, and Lake Havasu, AZ. We simply could not afford the time or money to take three vacations a year. Also, my wife needs to be within reach of healthcare every 3 months to monitor some conditions she has, so we stay anchored to the Fort Worth, TX area.

The nature of my job (remote) was that I could work from anywhere in the country as long as I had high-speed internet. To make a long (and somewhat agonizing) story short, we eventually decided that we would sell our house, buy an RV, and travel for the rest of our lives. We could be in Florida in the spring, the Quad Cities in the summer, and Arizona in the winter. We could take one vacation, i.e., travel somewhere different, just for us, once a year.

We started out on this adventure on January 13, 2023. We had made one trip to Florida, one to the Quad Cities, and one to the Big Bend area of Texas. We were on the Big Bend trip when I was diagnosed with Stage IV esophageal cancer.

The implications of this diagnosis were that a) I would be tethered to chemotherapy the rest of my life, and b) We would never be able to travel to see family again.

We made the decision to move to the Quad Cities, central to my family and close to my wife's family, where she could have some support from them as she takes care of me.

Therefore, we need to sell the trailer. It is a beautiful trailer but appeals only to a niche market. Though it's a camper, it is not for the average weekend campout. It is a home on wheels. It is "beefed up" so as to handle the nomad lifestyle, and it is customized, only because that was the only trailer we could find at the time that met our needs.

The funds will be used to help cover the gap between what the RV sells for and what we owe on it, and to cover carrying costs until I can get it sold.

Your generosity will first go to paying down the loan and then to other associated costs.

We much appreciate any help that comes our way.