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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

We Can Help. Please Help.

I had trouble sleeping last night -- I was thinking of Gwen.

I don't remember how I found her blog, months ago, but she's someone I keep coming back to. She's lived through unimaginable grief -- the loss of a baby -- and has written honestly and with courage about how that tragedy has affected her life.

And two weeks ago, she wrote for the first time about being severely beaten by her husband. And this month she found the strength to finally throw him out.

So yesterday, when she received a 48-hour shut-off notice from the electric company with $800 past due owing -- money that her waste of a husband said that he had paid -- it nearly undid her.

And I said to myself, self, if 40 of us blogger folks could each send her $10, she'd be half-way there, and she and her two kids will not have to deal with the additional trauma and fear of losing their electricity on top of everything else they've been through.

So I successfully nudged her to set up a PayPal account.

I know it's presumptuous of me to ask, but if each of you dear friends could send a few dollars her way, it would make a huge difference. Here is the link.

And hug your families today.

UPDATE (Friday, 9:50AM EST): The PayPal link is being buggy (again). I have contacted Gwen to ask for a corrected link and will update this post as soon as I hear from her; please check back later!

UPDATE (Saturday, 9:55AM EST): Gwen's site is back up and live, and the link on her site is working. I have also updated the link above, which should now be working. THANK YOU ALL!

15 comments:

Oonie said...

You're a good woman, Ruth. Here's hoping.

Magpie said...

What MemeGRL said.

gwendomama said...

Thank you thank you thank you so much. Thank you.

Your kindness touches me at a deep level; thank you for helping my children and thank you for helping me.

We are on our way.....we are on our way...on our way back home.

Kelly said...

Ruth, I tried the Paypal link and it isn't working. Any suggestions?

RuthWells said...

Kelly, it works for me if I click through to Gwen's site and hit her donate button from there. Try that. And bless you.

http://gwendomama.blogspot.com/

RuthWells said...

The link my my blog post is now fixed, too.

Adorable Girlfriend said...

I can make a donation to a friend in need.

Thanks for caring so much and brining the joy of Gwen into all of our lives.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ruth,
Thanks so much for posting this.
(I don't know if you remember me, but I found you after my daughter was diagnosed with PKD.)
Anyway, I just made a donation and hope that enough others are able to do the same to help Gwen. Please keep us updated if there is anything else we can do to help.
Thank you for being so kind!!! You inspire me!
With Many Hugs,
Marlene

Domestic CEO said...

I tried the link on both your blog and Gwen's blog but neither are working. Ideas?

RuthWells said...

Folks, I don't know why the PayPal links keep going dead. I've emailed Gwen for guidance and will post an update. Thank you all so much for jumping in -- I really am amazed at the level of caring this community exhibits.

Anonymous said...

It seems that Gwen's blog is now open only to invited readers, so unless Gwen changes this, we can't get through to her blog and the entry where we can donate. :(

Lisa said...

I also find that the link didn't work and Gwen's site is open to invited readers only.

RuthWells said...

Lisa, I emailed Gwen this morning and haven't heard from her yet. I imagine she is overwhelmed and am hoping that she's okay. Thank you for trying, and I hope to be able to post a working link soon.

RuthWells said...

Hi everyone,

Gwen's blog is live again, and I've updated my link to her PayPal account. In addition, if you go to her site, there is a direct "Donate" link. Thank you all for hanging in there with me.

Charles said...

Hello Ruth,

Okay, I just deleted quite a few rambling paragraphs (that I will probably turn into a blog of my own) that come down to this: I found your blog a couple of weeks ago via Dorie Greenspan's blog, and have been here several times since then.

I'm grateful that I happened to do so, and grateful that I can help Gwen in my own small way.