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| Marilyn and Charles Young 2009 |
When Chuck and his wife Marilyn got the diagnosis of Alzheimer's for Marilyn, like any family facing this journey, they were devastated.
They knew things would be changing as time moved on; there was no escaping the harsh, cruel, truth.
They began to make adjustments as needed, and there were so many adjustments to be made.
This is their story. . .
They met in high school and were married in 1950. They shared a life together with family and friends that made Normal Rockwell paintings come to life.
Chuck worked in aviation for 42 years, while Marilyn excelled at raising the family, and working in the schools as an administrative genius. She was active in 4-H for several years, and offered her generosity to the local community in many ways. Their life was a dream come true as they both worked hard to provide for the family. They never had extravagant homes or cars, but they always had the best that suited their needs, and they never lacked on love for one another. They were always thrilled to hear their youngest daughter, Janet, say that they had made her life a living fairy tale.
Life had its ups and downs, but they never gave in to hardships. Chuck, Marilyn, and their daughters were conquerors in an ever changing world. Their biggest weapon being their attitude toward others as well as life itself. Life was going as they had planned and dreamed.
Long before the diagnosis, (and only a few short years since Chuck had retired) on September 11, 2001 the attacks on the World Trade Center wreaked havoc in many families who were not even directly involved. Along with the news of friends in the area narrowly escaping, Chuck and Marilyn's investments were shattered, their retirement money was gone.
But like we said, this family has never been one to give up, or throw in the towel. The family talked about it and decided they had enough to make a go of it for a few years, all hoping that Janet and her husband's company would grow during those few years and they would all live happily ever after. But as we know, life doesn't always send out the memos you wish you had before things happen.
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| Preparing for the first of four hurricanes |
2004 came and Chuck and Marilyn, along with Janet and her husband, found themselves in the midst of four hurricanes. Long story short, the hurricanes brought devastation to the family business. Something had to be done. Janet's husband was blessed to find a job. Hoping for the best once again this family was able to make ends meet, and live a life that brought stability to the four of them.
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| Boarded up and ready to endure. . . |
Janet's health began to dwindle, and the stacking chronic illnesses were taking their toll. She was not able to hold a job due to health restraints. That's when she decided to ramp it up on her novel writing.
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| Storm Frances coming over the horizon |
In 2005 identity theft reared it's ugly head on both families, forcing them all spiraling into financial ruins. Yet again, this family did not give up.
It wasn't long before they were forced to move from their beautiful brick homes, that sat across the street from each other, and into smaller manufactured homes next door to each other.
It was a couple of years later when Marilyn received the diagnosis of Alzheimer's. Janet became the sole care giver for her mother in the early stages, as Chuck had to take a job in addition to Janet's husband's job, to help make ends meet for the four of them due to rising medical costs. Chuck proudly served as a custodian for a local high-school.
Janet continued caring for her mother alone. She would take her to lunch, go shopping on a small scale, and do other fun things they had always enjoyed together, laughing and telling stories. When Chuck got home from work each day they would have dinner together and once again laugh and tell stories, but times were changing, and not for the better.
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| Clean-up from Frances begins before Ivan hits |
The next major adjustment came when Janet could no longer handle her mother alone during the day. Marilyn began falling due to being off balance, and worrying over and over about where Chuck was. She was not grasping the fact any longer that he was working to make ends meet. Janet, suffering from her own stack of chronic illnesses, found she was not capable physically to care for her mother alone. Chuck had to quit his job at the high-school and become the second 24/7 care giver, along with Janet, for the love of his life.
Janet's husband stepped up to the plate and began working overtime whenever he could, and still does to this day. The medical costs became overwhelming for Marilyn's care, especially when the Medicare doughnut hole hits for Marilyn every year in late July!
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An X-ray of Marilyn's
actual replacement elbow |
June of 2012 Marilyn fell and shattered her elbow. An hour and a half surgery turned into four hours as they removed 12 pieces of bone chips, re-attached the ulnar nerve as it had been severed and the bone it was originally attached to was now gone, and put in a brand new metal elbow. (The medical field can be amazing sometimes). However, it is now November of 2013 and Marilyn does not remember falling. She does not understand why her fingers and arm hurt without ceasing. Chuck and Janet reassure her hourly, often times minutely, of the incident and that she's going to be OK - someday - they just don't know how long it will take to heal completely. Marilyn, sadly, is allergic to pain medications so she has had to endure the lengthy recovery on OTC medicines alone.
And still, to our amazement, this family fought tooth and nail to not let the world get them down: financially, spiritually, health wise, or attitude wise.
Life had thrown some hard knocks at this family, and they were determined to survive. They did. . .but not without a price. Through it all the four of them lost their "nest eggs," their homes, their health, and their summer home which they had built with their own hands and shared together since the 1970's. Between them they also lost the original family business, closed the doors on another they had started after losing the first one, were in a bad accident, blew two engines in two separate cars. One of them had a pace maker put in, one had cataracts removed, one had an ICM put in, they made 6 ER runs in 5 weeks with Marilyn, another was diagnosed with liver problems, one had cancer removed, and yet another developed bone spurs in the neck along with a pinched nerve and a sciatica, and they all are currently battling (with a group of homeowners) numerous ridiculous legal actions that have been ongoing for the past 6 years regarding the subdivision in which they live.
We asked Janet if the stress was ever more than they could handle them. She replied, "If we'd let it, but we rarely do. Besides, God promises in His word that He will never give us more than we can handle. . .but He never said circumstances wouldn't push you to the limit!" She laughed and went on to say, "It seems like every corner we turn to try and escape this crazy reality we're stuck in, we find nothing but misery - but that's OK," says Janet. "We've all learned you're going to have problems in life. You can wake up and be happy or sad. We've chosen to be happy because either way the circumstances most likely won't change in a second, so why not enjoy life as best you can. Happiness is only a choice away." She laughed again, and finished with, "We've got each other, and that's the feature we focus on to keep going - cheering and rooting for each other all the way."
After hearing all of this we thought, with all these folks have been through certainly something good has to happen, and soon. . .right? So we pressed on to find out if it did.
In the summer of 2013, while searching for ways to bring in more income (without leaving the house as Marilyn now needs constant care) to help offset the rising medical costs, a dear friend suggested to Janet and Chuck the idea of combining their talents. And so they did.
Here's how it shakes down. Janet has written and published her first epic fairy tale adventure: Volume 1 "Maycly the Trilogy," two companions books, plus Volume 2 "Planet Land ~ The Adventures of Cub and Nash." She is currently finishing Volume 3 "Planet Water ~ Draugar of the Abyss" and looking forward to a 2014 release. In addition, Janet is a scenic nature photographer. Chuck on the other hand has always worked with his hands creating and building as a hobby, and swears he's who Janet got her fantastical imagination from. When they brought together the Hidden Earth Series, Janet's nature photography, and Chuck's amazing ability to work with polymer clay, they found a new venture to help with the extreme medical costs.
Something good really did happen! Fairy Tales and Jewelry was born! And now the proceeds from every novel and piece of jewelry that are sold go toward helping with Marilyn's medical bills.
Visit Fairy Tales & Jewelry from now thru December 31, 2013 to save big!
Spend $29.90 and get 40% your order PLUS FREE SHIPPING!
Use Coupon Code BIGDEAL40
You'll find Fairy Tales and Jewelry online at Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JLBCreatives or you can visit HiddenEarthSeries.com to discover more about the jewelry and the novel series Janet is writing.
Together this family has endured more than some, yet not nearly as much as others, and they are forever grateful to have each other to lean on when circumstances seem impossible. This family is truly an example of the cliche`, When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Chuck's jewelry and a selection from Janet's books are also available locally at Long & Scott's Farm Mount in Dora, Florida. You'll find the items in the quaint gift shop at the farm. . .be sure and have some lunch at the cafe`, and tell them Chuck, Marilyn, and Janet sent you. ;-)
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Pictured L to R:
Ken & Dar (Chuck's oldest daughter), Chuck, Marilyn, Janet
visiting Long & Scott's Farm November, 2013 |
Janet has been humbled by the responses she is receiving from her novels. The Hidden Earth Series has made it's way across the nation, and into libraries and schools. Volume 1 has received stunning 5 star reviews from Reader's Favorite and on Amazon. Plus Volume 1 has made a difference in the classroom (read a snippet from an email Janet received from a 6th grade language and arts teacher by visiting the Reviews page on HiddenEarthSeries.com - it's approximately half way down the page).
Chuck and Marilyn continue to cheer and support their daughter's novel adventure. In fact, they believe in the Hidden Earth Series so much Chuck printed out a fake million dollar bill and presented it to Janet on the release date of Volume 1. As he handed it to her he said, "Here's to your first million Coop-cake!"
Janet hopes to see her novels on the big screen, and she believes with all her heart she stands just as much a chance as the next author. And obviously by now, you are aware that Janet is not a quitter when it comes to conquering epic obstacles (and epic novels), so to her, her envisioning of Hidden Earth Series on the big screen is only an enchanted voyage away. She also dreams of having her series make the Scholastic list of books, and enjoys pondering the thought of seeing the land of Maycly make its debut in a well known theme park some day. When people ask her if she would like to be compared to Rowling or Tolkein she simply smiles and answers, "No. I'd rather they be compared to me," then she laughs and dons that wonderful smile of hers, and you can't help but become a fan.
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| Visit Janet and the Hidden Earth Series on Amazon by clicking here |
We encourage you to shop small businesses this holiday season, and we hope Fairy Tales and Jewelry is one of them. Small businesses are one of the many things that make this free country so great. We hope that you find this family's small business endeavors worthy of discovery and will share the news with your family and friends this holiday season when it comes to giving gifts. Because how cool is it to give a gift that benefits a cause?
Until next week, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!
The JLB Creatives Executive Team
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