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Make Your Own!
Started by: Lynn Marie Coffren
Hi everyone!
My name is Lynn Marie and the beautiful dog in the photo above is Dale (the Wonder Pup), my 10-year old Akita-Lab mix. I am a 55-year old college student, pursuing a BA in History and scheduled to graduate in July of this year.
But in the past few months I’ve run into a few major snags. After losing my home in 2009 after the housing bubble and the economic crisis that followed – my husband also lost work for a construction firm he had been with for almost 30 years – we moved into a tiny apartment in exchange for property maintenance. Unfortunately, keeping up with the workload here has become too much for my husband (he is 61).
I also suffer from recurring cluster headaches, a condition that only in the past few years was finally diagnosed, which means that I deal with severe pain 15 to 20 days every month. As of right now, no treatment has been effective, and I have had this condition since 1982.
After moving, I found myself suffering from severe depression and anxiety. For 20 years I was a graphics and web site designer (first as “Webkooks” in the late 1990s and most recently as “Island Creek Media”, working for myself, but I was self-taught and could no longer compete with overseas firms offering design services for significantly less than U.S. web designers typically earned. I could not support all of us; my husband was only able to find small landscaping and carpentry work during the warm months here in Maryland.
By December 2013 the lack of work and depression had taken its toll, and I had to be hospitalized over the Christmas holidays since I wanted to harm myself. I had given up.
I got help – counseling and medical help – and began to improve. And I realized in 2014 that nothing in my life would improve unless I made some bold changes to improve myself and my circumstances.
Someone once asked me if there was anything that I had really wanted to do just for myself during my lifetime, and my answer surprised even me: the one thing I ever really wanted to do was to go to college. But I never took the opportunity because I was always concerned with everyone else was happy; by ignoring me, I was burning myself out and shortening my own life.
Fast forward to 2018. I’ve worked hard to maintain an almost 4.0 GPA in hopes that a college education will help me to gain a career that will get us out of the day-to-day treadmill of anxiety. Aside from occasional carpentry work for my husband, and dog-sitting I do for neighbors, there is little money coming in. And once again, anxiety and depression are threatening to derail my future.
I have just started the first of my last three terms, and my schooling is all I can manage right now. I’ve started pulling what little I have left together to sell online, and looking for part-time work though I know there is little chance I can manage school and work at the same time. The threat of being hospitalized again is a constant source of worry for me right now.
Added to all of this is for me the worst thing of all: my beautiful best friend, Dale the Wonder Pup, has cancer, and I will be losing him to this disease in the very near future (days or weeks – he was diagnosed in May 2017).
The bottom line is that getting my degree must be my priority now, and this is where you can help. Donations will go towards medical expenses, gas, groceries, etc. and towards getting a down payment for a new place to live.
I’ve applied for all the assistance available in my state and county, so rest assured I am doing whatever I can to meet these goals myself. My college offers career counseling services and I am taking advantage of that also. I’m also going to create some art to post for sale in the short-term; aside from spending as much time as possible with my dog in his last days, art is the most therapeutic thing I can do to get through these first few months of 2018.
Updates will be posted weekly – or more often depending on how things improve – and I will keep everyone updated on goals and successes as they occur.
If you took the time to read through to the end of this, thank you for doing so – you are awesome! Please know that you are loved and blessed.
~ Lynn Marie
Posted by Lynn Marie
June 1 at 7:58pm
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May 13 at 12:08pm
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April 30 at 3:14pm
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April 8 at 1:33pm
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March 30 at 10:20am
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March 25 at 3:01pm
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March 20 at 11:39am
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March 17 at 10:37am
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March 11 at 2:10pm
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March 3 at 1:22pm
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February 27 at 12:14pm
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February 22 at 5:41am
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February 16 at 5:37pm
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February 12 at 8:53pm
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February 9 at 1:38pm
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January 26 at 1:54pm
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January 18 at 5:32pm
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January 12 at 2:04pm
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Lia Frankiewicz — 6 years ago
Lynn Marie, We are sisters in the headache business. After next week I may have some hopeful news. I have both clusters and migraines for years and I’m flying to a specialty hospital for help. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for us! Lots of love and kisses to sweet Dale. I didn’t see the Donate Button, so we blondes have trouble sometimes or I can slip some $$$ under the table! Lia and Grayson
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