Hi! Im Devin. Im 28 years old and I'm fundraising for help with my stepdad's funeral costs. He passed away unexpectedly on Sunday September 17th. He was suffering from dementia and the past year his health declined rapidly. My mother and I were his caretakers. Mainly me, as my mother too is disabled so caring for him was extremely hard for her. I made the decision to leave work 3 years ago to help my mom and become his full-time caregiver. Caring for him was not easy but I would never trade the time we had together in those 3 years. He was more than a stepdad to me he was like a second dad, and I was so lucky to have him in my life.
On August 29th Jim tried to get out of his chair without assistance and he fell directly on his left hip. We were unaware that he had seriously injured himself as he never could tell when he was in pain or at least where his pain was coming from. The morning of August 30th my dad was complaining of being in pain and expressed that it was coming from his left leg. He also began to act delirious. In addition to that he was having a lot of problems eating for a few days prior and was not swallowing his food well. Scared for his safety we called 911 and they took him to the hospital. We found out he broke his left hip and needed surgery. His surgery went well and after time in the hospital he was transported to a rehab center. We were expecting him to make a recovery and eventually be transported to the veteran nursing home. Instead, he spent 2 weeks in the rehab before sadly passing away suddenly.
My stepdad was the kindest man I knew. He had a heart of gold and cared about everyone. Generous was not the word to describe him. He helped EVERYONE. He was the definition of selfless. He was also Vietnam veteran and served 4 years in the war. He loved being in the army and often talked of those days. You could tell that he was proud to have served his country. Dementia is a horrible disease, and nobody deserves it but to watch Jim go through it being the amazing man he was, was beyond unfair. Even with dementia he still continued to be the sweet man he always was. Unfortunately, even though he was a veteran there is not much assistance we can get. He did not continue his life insurance policy which my mother and I were unaware of so now we are left with no funds for his memorial. We would like him to be honored at Doyle Memorial in Wrightstown NJ alongside the other veterans, where his brother was also laid to rest.
I'm asking for donations for help with the costs of his memorial service. We tried to keep it as simple as possible however Jim deserved something special and that's the least that I can do for him. I want to honor him and give him the memorial service he deserves to have. He was someone truly special and he should be honored and remembered that way. Any donations exceeding the goal amount will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association in his memory.
