Hello and Thank you.
I want to share with you the winners of the John and Teri Wimberley benefit portfolio raffles. But first I want to take this time to express my gratitude to all those of you who helped me first organize this project, help me build it, finish it and of course all those who bought tickets.
I had mentioned these three folks before but I want to make clear that they helped me gather the nice work for the portfolios. Julie Young, Tom Glassman and David Winston. The portfolios would not have happen without you gathering work and design of the front page.
Thank you Lorraine Richey and Carrie Mortimer for helping finish the project. Lorraine came over to my home several times to organized and packed the portfolios. She helped me push the project over the top when I needed help the most. Carrie is my wife and best friend.
Now to all those of you who bought tickets, you all rock in my book and I love you for that! We met our goal and then some. Many of you bought more then just one ticket and many of you simply sent money to John directly. Two folks sent him checks of $200! That is fantastic!! And it comes at the right time.
Teri has been moved into hospice care and that means she has less then 6 months to be with John and us. The funds we have gathered plus several other projects give John the freedom to concentrate his energy to his Teri and to himself. This is a major relief to him. He has shared with me how much he appreciates what we all have done for them. I’ve asked him to share some words with us.
The compassionate prayers, meditations, and donations from friends and people I've never met have moved me beyond anything I could have anticipated. Many times I've donated prints or money to others who were in similar situations, but it never occurred to me that one day I'd be on the receiving end. I desperately wish we didn't need help, but we do, as Teri has no insurance due to "preexisting condition", and I support us on print sales. We tried for more than 2 years to find out what was going wrong in her body, but doctors wouldn't see us because of the lack of insurance, even when I offered to pay cash! Finally a perceptive ER doctor referred Teri to rheumatologists, who send us to an oncologist. In all, it took 18 physicians to figure out her diagnosis. Now it's too late to do anything effective to ameliorate her condition, except to try to minimize her terrific pain with narcotic drugs.
It's Teri's strong desire to die at home, and I fully support her in that decision. Two days ago, I had to go to the funeral home across the street and arrange for Teri's inevitable cremation, which was the hardest thing I've ever done. In the midst of this I'm dealing with the most sorrowful, tragic feelings as I watch my dearest Teri pass. There are moments when I'm so overcome I fear going crazy. Most of the time my hands and body shake like leaves.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to each person who is helping, whether through prayers, kind thoughts, meditation, money, a hug, running errands or keeping Teri company. Your support has kept Teri and I from succumbing completely to grief and hopelessness. The financial donations are allowing us to relieve a bit of the financial burden, and hire caretakers to help as I was unable to sustain the intensity of 24/7 caretaking.
Thank you all, from the bottom of Teri's and my heart,
John Wimberley
We had people buying tickets from all over our country and even from Canada and Japan. That is pretty cool! The power of the Internet and the power of the human touch and the need to help, I see this very encouraging. It’s also the power of our photographic community. I’ve seen how we reached out to help those fellow photographers in need and it’s good.
And now the winners of the portfolios,
• S. Davis of Washington, D.C.
• H. Dvorin of New Jersey
• T. Kamara of Oregon
• D. Larson of Oregon
• G. Lewis of Maryland
• C. Palm of California
• J. Pendersen of Oregon
• F. Powell of Oregon
• M. Vogt of Colorado and
• S. Walker of Alberta, Canada
I want to thank you all again. It’s not too late if you wish to help John and Teri. Here is their paypal account and email address. tjwimberley@charter.net Drop them a line if you wish.
Several of our more known photographers have donated prints to John to sell on eBay. I had mentioned their names before but here they are again. Steve Anchell, Christopher Burkett, Charles Cramer, Martha Casanave, Mitch Dobrowner, Ryuijie Douglas, Jon Fishback, Don Jacobson, Ron Kaplan, Gene Kennedy, Don Kirby, Russ Levin, Stu Levy, Philip Morgan, John Sexton, Ann Quinn, Matt Vogt and David Winston.
Once John has started his auction I will supply the link and encourage you to bid or share the link to your friends and family to bid.
Thank you again and to the winners’ congratulations!
Robert Brummitt
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