Maria has now lost her battle with Leukemia, and so she goes to the heavens to be with the Lord. As a servant, and an Angel to watch over us and her beloved family. Maria may have lost the battle she fought for almost a year, but her life will forever be alive in memory and in spirit. Life may end on earth, but it lives on in our hearts and minds with a continuing desire to achieve the same goals set when we drew breath in our lungs and our blood flowed within our veins. Hearts no longer beat with a pulse, but transcends to us in a form unseen, unheard, but felt forever.
I dedicate this Chapter and story to “Maria” who is my friend will remain my friend for eternity.
Families have so much to overcome when a loved one passes. The grief is only a part of what they go through. Some of the other areas they suffer is financial hardships. Medical Bills, unpaid bills, cash flows disappear, loss of employment, loss of revenues, then there are the funeral costs and burial expenses. It is hard enough to deal with the Loss of someone, but then to be punished and put through more hardships because you are now forced to finance their final resting place, is totally the extreme stress element that can drive families to the brink of divide and strain what sanity any may have left.
It should not be this way, unfortunately in the world we live in, it is. Funerals and Burials can be the straw that will break a family in two. They have no understanding or compassion when it comes to “Getting Paid”. Funeral Business is one where there is no payment plan, unless you pay in advance of a death. Otherwise, nothing gets done until they get paid.
I will never forget when I had to bury my Maternal Grandmother, she had totally outlived her savings and had no income, so I had taken the burden to make sure she was transported and buried with my Grandfather at FT. Sam National Cemetery. I had her transported to San Antonio from Abilene then made all the arrangements with the Cemetery to have her service and burial along side my Grandfather, only there they actually bury the spouses on top of their spouse. Saving space of course.
The moment I arrived at the Funeral Home to set the plan in motion, I was required to pay for the entire obligation up front before they would even load her casket in the car. I had made a deposit to have her casket and her cared for prior, so it was really a surprise to be told this too had to be paid in full. I will never forget having to write a Check on a Sunday afternoon for the entire amount and handing it over to the Funeral Director, so we could make our journey. And to make things even more uncomfortable, they had to verify the funds were good first then release the car. Trying doing that on a Sunday afternoon, back in the 90’s, things were not so automated.
Once on the road and finally reaching our destination, I had to present receipts to the cemetery to insure they finalized the services and burial.
Case in point, I was already grieving about the loss of my grandmother, my own Mother was gone as well, and it was only me and my son to do it all. I had no help, and no one to ask for any.
That is a very lonely feeling.
I worked full time, and had a young son still in school. And single.
I just think it is really sad that businesses and their owners can not be just a bit more compassionate and understanding when it comes to helping those in need when their is such a loss.
My Blog today is now asking for help for Maria’s Family, who have been totally stripped of any extras, income and finances are depleted from on going health care and treatment costs. All donations will go directly to this family for Funeral costs and unpaid medical bills, please find my donation buttons on the home page of my blog, via Paypal, and make sure to put Maria Domek in the description. You will receive a letter of your donation for a receipt of your generous kindness.
You can also find information on help by visiting Facebook, enter Maria Domek’s name to pull up more information. As a close family friend, I feel it is the least I can do to help them.
If a mother who leaves her children voluntarily in a Hot Car to attend a job interview, can receive such generosity, I would think those could help with some small donation to this one. Even a dollar is a dollar more than they have right now, and it is needed so badly.
Will you help them? Someday it could be you in need.
Thank You.