Come out and see my photo this Friday, as well as photos by Jake and James and other people as well! Click on the picture above to see the larger PDF. Basic gist is that it’s Friday at the Raleigh City Museum on Fayetteville Street. I’m psyched to be a part of this one.
The Maggie Memorial Fund has been a big success so far. The final bill at the NC State Veterinary Teaching Hospital was $4,600, and the bill at the regular vet was $600. My plan has been to try and raise about $2,000, then to split up the remainder ($3,600) with my parents. Mom and Dad are very generous people, and Mom has been calling my cats her grandchildren for years! It’s going to take me a while to pay off my part, but it was a risk I took knowingly (with the support of my parents and one caring friend), and one I will never ever regret. Since Maggie’s overall health (other than her kidneys) was so good, successful surgery could have brought her many more good years. There was just no way the vets could have predicted the complication she had, since it was one that had never been seen before.
This little campaign of mine has gone on for 6 days, and I have now raised $1,587! I’m almost at my goal. When I started, there was still hope for Maggie, but obviously, things did not go well. I wouldn’t have expected to raise this much, but it’s happened, and I couldn’t be more grateful. The Flickr strangers are the people who’ve blown me away the most… no, not them… the ex I hadn’t heard from in years who I didn’t even know followed my life at all anymore. Must have heard through the grapevine. Whatever the case, the $10 here, $25 there has made ALL the difference in an doable amount (in the wake of starting my own business) and an insurmountable amount, and I thank you so much!
One last push, since the first of the month is in a few days. Just a few more donations would make all the difference. I usually go over the top with things, but I think that after a full week of doing all I know to make a dent in this, I should spare everyone further blabbing (although I will probably keep talking about my cats for a while… just unsub for a while, and it’ll pass – maybe!). Only $413 more!
Too spent to type all this out, but for those who want the whole story, here it is in my words:
And some of my best of my little fuzzy angel:
My life has been better because of Maggie’s presence in it.
If you’d like to help offset the high costs of Maggie’s medical care (the vet school sure did try), please consider a donation. Any amount you see fit is much appreciated.
When I was a little kid, riding bikes was my very favorite thing to do. I lived in a neighborhood full of kids, and I loved the freedom and the speed I had available to me. It was a safer time, so as long as I was back before dark, I was free to go where I wanted.
My ex-husband is very athletic, and cycling is his sport. Before he moved to the states (he’s English), he did a lot of road biking, but living in Atlanta and Bloomington, Indiana, there were a lot of excellent off-road trails available. I ended up getting a mountain bike of my own, which I used while we were married. Since the marriage ended, I haven’t been on the bike at all. I’ve moved many times, but I always knew I’d get the bike working again. This week, I finally got around to doing just that. My apartment isn’t in a great starting place for bike rides, but my new office is. For a grand total of $120, the nice guys at Flythe Cyclery got my old bike working again. The bike is living at my office instead of at my apartment, so when I’m downtown, I can get wherever I need to go so much more easily.
I picked up my bike Friday night and brought it to its new home. Saturday morning was my first outing. It was a pretty ideal time, since Raleigh was a wasteland (most people were traveling for the 4th of July). I simply went from my office to Helios, had breakfast, then went back to my office. Not a huge adventure, but it let me know that (1) the bike works (2) Helios isn’t very far away and (3) Lane is a handy street for me. From that adventure, I could already tell that being on a bike is going to help a lot with my sense of direction, which is something I desperately need.
Today was adventure #2. My friend Clara met me at my office with her bike. She’s got all the gear, clipless pedals, the whole deal. She looks like a real pro. Lately, she’s been riding with our friend Joe who’s a SERIOUS road cyclist. The other day when we hung out, she’s just gone 32 miles. I wanted to go for a real ride, but not a JOE ride! We ended up going all over the place. I kind of wish I’d gotten one of those Map My Ride apps for the iPhone so I could say how far we’d gone and where we actually traveled. All I know is that we were out for a full hour, and I saw a lot of corners of Raleigh I’d never seen before AND… I didn’t pass out. While I have been suffering from a low-grade migraine all day, I did make it. The nausea did begin to get a little bad near the end, but it was only annoying, not inhibitory. Overall, I had an awesome time, and I can’t wait to go out again. While I’m really happy Clara is heading to St John’s soon, I’m bummed she won’t be around for lots of rides. Being out there with someone else really keeps me going further than I would alone.
Anyway, I’m just thrilled to have a working bike back in my life. I hope to use it a lot.
