JOPLIN, MO.— At the age of 47, Joplin native John Vincent never expected to be faced with death. The news came the day after Thanksgiving.
“He was starting to have loss of balance. We found out because he was having headaches and he had that for a week, and then on Friday he started vomiting and that’s when we took him in. We thought it was something minor,” said Heather Vincent, John’s wife.
John and his wife, Heather, didn’t expect to hear the worst news of their life. John had a grade four terminal brain tumor, that managed to develop in just three months.
At Hospice Visions Inc., we are committed to offering comfort, care and love. Because of this commitment and with the generous donation from the Dream Foundation and Rising Stars Therapeutic Riding Center, we had the privilege of helping one of our hospice patient’s dreams come true.
On behalf of our patient, family and Hospice Visions Inc., we would like to give special thanks to the Dream Foundation for making possible a final reunion for a father, daughter and granddaughter. We would also like to thank Rising Star Therapeutic Riding Center for helping our hospice patient take that one final ride on a horse.
These kind acts and generous donations of air fare, time involved and coordinating these dreams meant so very much to him and his family.
LISLE – Lori Ossey’s favorite time growing up was being rocked to sleep in Montrose Harbor in Chicago on the boat owned by her father, a former Navy cook and gunmen, who had fallen in love with the water during his time in the service.
Nighttime is now the hardest time for Ossey, a 55-year-old Lisle resident who suffers from terminal pancreatic cancer. Despite medication, the pain is the worst at night, she said.
Pictures of lighthouses and other nautical memorabilia cover the walls of Ossey’s apartment – reminders of a childhood spent on the water.
“I love the water,” Ossey said. “I love dolphins and sharks. My dream has always been to swim with dolphins.”
During my May Days marathon I’ve been exposed to some amazing nonprofits – and I’ve been asked by many people “if you could work at anyone of them, which one would you pick?”. I’d have to say that my answer would probably be Dream Foundation. You’ll understand why very soon.
Before May, I didn’t know much about Dream Foundation. All I knew was that my dear friend, Diana Wilson, was at one time on their board of directors. Diana has been my main consultant / therapist / witch doctor throughout the development of Just a Little Push. Diana is one of the coolest and most intelligent women I know – oh yeah, and she was the president of Deckers and just so happened to take them public. So, yeah, she’s kind of a superhero and I’m lucky to be able to pick her (huge) brain!
Anyways, since Dream had a special place in Diana’s heart, I had to check them out. I called them and was immediately put in touch with Kaitlyn Turner their Manager of Volunteer Services. Kaitlyn seriously could not have been more excited about my project and asked me to stop by and take a tour of their offices and brainstorm with her. If I have one random skill I can be proud of, it’s that I’m pretty damn good at getting a good read on someone as soon as I meet them – and I immediately liked Kaitlyn. Note- she is now my buddy – another new friend I have gained from my May Days campaign!
A veteran of the Persian Gulf War, now a resident of Cape Coral, is a reminder of how precious life really is.
On Wednesday afternoon in Fort Myers, Gloria Chisum received a dream vacation package to Disney World. That sounds great until you consider what she has gone through in the last four months.
“I don’t remember getting up that day to be honest with you,” Chisum told us while sitting at Hardees Restaurant on Palm Beach Boulevard.
Back on February 4th, she went to work at Gulfcoast Village.
“Apparently, I got in the car and don’t remember waking up to get ready for work. I made it towork and apparently collapsed at work,” Chisum said.
