JenBackus
09-02-2004, 01:31 AM
My dear friends,
As I sit here tonight with kids finally asleep, I don't even know how to begin to thank you for your incredible gift. We started out our day as usual when heading to Seattle, rushing around to get everything ready, getting kids into the car, grabbing coffee and the mail on the way out of town. Except when I got the mail today there was something so incredible, so wonderful and such an answer to prayer that if I hadn't been sitting down already, I would have fell over backwards. Good thing I was sitting because of the tears, lots of tears....joy, surprise.... Samuel loved the card and the babies are so beautiful! It was so cool. He loves babies. And your pin is so wonderful. And my favorite color too. I will wear this proudly feeling all the love and support from you all.
I have had this gift all day and I still am pretty speechless, which for me, is saying a lot. Oh, my gosh, I don't know how you all did it! I cannot believe you could raise that much money and honestly our family feels so very honored that you would want to help us in such a huge way. You have all been so very kind to us both when our business was actually functional and now, to my Samuel, who has received many gifts from people who specificly identify themselves as being from here. A few of you actually alerted me that something was "cooking" over here for us, but I had no idea what. Thanks to the person who steered me to the right board to thank you all! Wow, I am still floored and feel completely inadequate as I write this note of thanks. So many of you have become wonderful friends even before Samuel got sick and I have always been thankful for that. But so many of you I don't know and I am so incredibly touched that you would want to help us. Thank you.
Your timing could not have been better and I say this was an answer to prayer because we were literally down to our last hundred bucks. Neither of us are working, and the thought of working right now seems incredibly difficult given our situation. Our bills were due in double amounts and we had no clue where that money would come from. We went to Seattle today, we will be going back early next week for a few day stay for another surgery. Daniel's birthday is coming up...on and on. Your gift is simply so touching, and perfect timing. I am just awe stricken that you all have done such a wonderful thing for us, wow, wow, wow!
I got this note pretty early into Samuel's illness and it has stayed with me all this time. I posted it on Samuel's update page but I want to share it here....
"I think if the world was fair, Mommies and Daddies who have to go through this would get all their expenses paid for the duration of the illness, and the child who had to endure the illness would get free ice cream forever, free college, and a very nice house to live in when he grows up!"
You ALL have helped this to happen for us. We will be able to spend the next several weeks at least home with Samuel because of you all. That is so awesome. When I got that note early on, I really did not realize how true it would be for us. If I went back to the beginning and started over and someone told me all we would have to endure, all Samuel would endure, I would have never believed it. You don't just stop working for four months without a LOT of help. You have all helped us so much, from early on to this incredible gift now. Please know that we are just so thrilled, so incredibly happy and honored by this. You all have helped us to be able to care for our boy who we love so much. You have made it possible for us to continue to be with him no matter what. And we know he would be dead today if we were not by his side always when at the hospital.
Thank you for easing this burden from our minds. Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for being givers, loving kind people who want to help a complete stranger. That says a lot. This is an outstanding community of people and we are so very grateful. Thank you for caring about Samuel, reading the updates and your continued thoughts and prayers. I am so touched that so many care for Samuel, love him, though have never met him.
I hope that this note will get our heartfelt thanks across. Sometimes writing feels so inadequate when you are trying to thank people for something when they have no way of knowing just how much it helps, or means.
We send our thanks, our love, hugs and pray God's blessing cover you and yours in a huge way too. You are an awesome group I wish I had the time to get to know on a friend basis rather than a business one. Thanks so very much!
With tears of joy....
Jen and Mark Backus
Samuel, Kaysha, Daniel and Anna
As I sit here tonight with kids finally asleep, I don't even know how to begin to thank you for your incredible gift. We started out our day as usual when heading to Seattle, rushing around to get everything ready, getting kids into the car, grabbing coffee and the mail on the way out of town. Except when I got the mail today there was something so incredible, so wonderful and such an answer to prayer that if I hadn't been sitting down already, I would have fell over backwards. Good thing I was sitting because of the tears, lots of tears....joy, surprise.... Samuel loved the card and the babies are so beautiful! It was so cool. He loves babies. And your pin is so wonderful. And my favorite color too. I will wear this proudly feeling all the love and support from you all.
I have had this gift all day and I still am pretty speechless, which for me, is saying a lot. Oh, my gosh, I don't know how you all did it! I cannot believe you could raise that much money and honestly our family feels so very honored that you would want to help us in such a huge way. You have all been so very kind to us both when our business was actually functional and now, to my Samuel, who has received many gifts from people who specificly identify themselves as being from here. A few of you actually alerted me that something was "cooking" over here for us, but I had no idea what. Thanks to the person who steered me to the right board to thank you all! Wow, I am still floored and feel completely inadequate as I write this note of thanks. So many of you have become wonderful friends even before Samuel got sick and I have always been thankful for that. But so many of you I don't know and I am so incredibly touched that you would want to help us. Thank you.
Your timing could not have been better and I say this was an answer to prayer because we were literally down to our last hundred bucks. Neither of us are working, and the thought of working right now seems incredibly difficult given our situation. Our bills were due in double amounts and we had no clue where that money would come from. We went to Seattle today, we will be going back early next week for a few day stay for another surgery. Daniel's birthday is coming up...on and on. Your gift is simply so touching, and perfect timing. I am just awe stricken that you all have done such a wonderful thing for us, wow, wow, wow!
I got this note pretty early into Samuel's illness and it has stayed with me all this time. I posted it on Samuel's update page but I want to share it here....
"I think if the world was fair, Mommies and Daddies who have to go through this would get all their expenses paid for the duration of the illness, and the child who had to endure the illness would get free ice cream forever, free college, and a very nice house to live in when he grows up!"
You ALL have helped this to happen for us. We will be able to spend the next several weeks at least home with Samuel because of you all. That is so awesome. When I got that note early on, I really did not realize how true it would be for us. If I went back to the beginning and started over and someone told me all we would have to endure, all Samuel would endure, I would have never believed it. You don't just stop working for four months without a LOT of help. You have all helped us so much, from early on to this incredible gift now. Please know that we are just so thrilled, so incredibly happy and honored by this. You all have helped us to be able to care for our boy who we love so much. You have made it possible for us to continue to be with him no matter what. And we know he would be dead today if we were not by his side always when at the hospital.
Thank you for easing this burden from our minds. Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for being givers, loving kind people who want to help a complete stranger. That says a lot. This is an outstanding community of people and we are so very grateful. Thank you for caring about Samuel, reading the updates and your continued thoughts and prayers. I am so touched that so many care for Samuel, love him, though have never met him.
I hope that this note will get our heartfelt thanks across. Sometimes writing feels so inadequate when you are trying to thank people for something when they have no way of knowing just how much it helps, or means.
We send our thanks, our love, hugs and pray God's blessing cover you and yours in a huge way too. You are an awesome group I wish I had the time to get to know on a friend basis rather than a business one. Thanks so very much!
With tears of joy....
Jen and Mark Backus
Samuel, Kaysha, Daniel and Anna