Monster thank-you's and gratitude

Paul and I want to raise our glass to all those who helped with our "Keep Love Together" campaign. We raised $1,965.60, which after fees, comes to a net total of $1,965.60 toward my visa and moving to Australia expenses. We want to especially thank (in no particular order): Dr. Jen Mahon (and I am so tickled to get to say "Dr." now!!) Denny and Glenn Wagner Tina Tessina Lynn Hineman John & June Clair Faye Omasta Mona Martin Greg Konkol Kristin Horrigan Ann Larson Sharon Gourlay Aidan Heritage Lisa Hawkridge Kristen Roth Jackie Haney Kendra Watsun Tina Howell Skye Belle Pryztas Jaynie Beard Susan Levitan Kelly and James Beckelheimer Wendy Gordon Kirby Fortin Arlene and Damon Gunn Deshira Jean Baxter Melissa Stratton Pandina all of our generous Anonymous donors With special thanks to Tina Tessina, Greg Konkol, and Aidan Heritage for being multiple donors - and Skye Belle Pryztas and Aidan Heritage for being our chief cheerleaders and helping to spread the word! I apologize for this being a bit late in getting out (the campaign ended on March 4th) - but I was a little busy recovering from a fall on the ice.

I'm doing okay, and will have more knowledge about the details of my injuries after Wednesday the 12th March when I see the orthopedist. It has been an interesting couple of months - my fall on the ice, Paul's cancer scare, and several unexpected bills that we're managing to deal with. Needless to say, we can't wait to be together. My name change is now official - I have a new Social Security card and driver's license that proclaims to the world that I am now Mrs. Kat Milner - and thanks to all of you, as soon as I get my new passport with my new name, I can file for my visa!! With luck, Paul and I will be together for our first anniversary, and you will know that YOU HELPED MAKE IT POSSIBLE. Thank you for believing in us, believing in love, and supporting us. Words are not enough to tell you how grateful we are. With love, Kat and Paul

Last few hours for love campaign

So we're in the last few hours of the campaign, and we hope you will join us. Paul and I have both been working 5 jobs between us to save money - for the visa, the background and medical checks, the flights, and to save for and furnish an apartment for when I get to Australia. Some quotes from some of our contributors: "Kat and Paul have renewed my faith in finding love. I thought the fairy tale ending happened only in the movies. Who wouldn't want to be part of a real life fairy tale ending?" "For Love, With Love." "In our world there is so much hurt and struggle and disease, and with social media there are waves of support daily, through prayer, donations and words of comfort and encouragement. I felt moved by the opportunity to contribute to a positive outcome, Kat & Paul, so clearly committed & in love. Circumstances of life have created the opportunity for their community to rally support to bring them together. $10, $20, $50 does make a difference, it is inspired action. An opportunity to support Love & LOVE WINS!" "well, mainly because that's what friends do. They help each other either emotionally, physically or monitarily as needed. no questions asked. I will miss you, but I would rather you be happy there than miserable here." "I supported your campaign because it was the right thing to do." We hope you will choose to join us, to help spread love into the world. To help to struggling newlyweds be together. Paul left for Australia 10 days after we married, as as of today, March 4, 2014, it has been 97 days since we've seen each other. So many people at the wedding commented that they have rarely seen two people so very much in love - will you help us be together so we can kiss each other goodnight, rather than wave over Skype? Just a few hours left - join us now. www.indiegogo.com/projects/keep-love-together

Standing on the side of love

As of noon on Sunday, March 2, we have just over 60 hours left in our indiegogo campaign to help raise the money for Paul and I to be together. The only thing that stands between us and keeps us a world apart is money. We realize that there are thousands of incredibly worthy causes out there - starving children, abused women, homeless families, cancer survivors who need surgery...the list is endless. We know that in the great scheme of things, our need isn't anywhere near the top of the list of critical importance in the world. Why then, did we decide to do this campaign? We decided to do this campaign because of one thing and one thing only - LOVE. The day of our wedding, the chapel and the reception was filled to bursting with love - I personally have never felt so much love in one place, and it was amazing to watch everyone fall in love with the very special man that became my husband. Every time I think about that day, I am overcome with feelings of love toward Paul, his son Z, and all of our friends and family that joined us that day in person and in spirit. I listen to the soundtrack from our reception, and it takes me back to dancing in the arms of my beloved, and seeing the joy on so many faces as they celebrated with us. So often it seems that our attention is brought to causes as a result of pain - like the list named above. We thought that people would like the opportunity to step forward and support a cause of joy - to support two people who love each other so much, have committed their lives together, and want nothing more than to be able to hold hands, kiss, and touch and hug each other. So often, when in a relationship, we take these things for granted - sleeping next to our partner, sharing meals, cuddling while watching a movie, or just taking a walk together and talking about nothing over coffee. We thought that people would like the opportunity to look at our real-life fairy tale, and be able to say "I helped make that happen!" when they see the pictures of us crying for joy when we are finally reunited. I mean, how often can you say you had a hand in making a for-real "happily-ever-after" happen? We're down to the wire - we know we won't make our full goal of $6,000, and that is okay. But it would be really wonderful if we could at least say we netted over $2,000, which would mean our friends got us 2/3 of the way to the visa! Won't you go now to www.indiegogo.com/projects/keep-love-together and donate now? Stand on the side of love, be a supporter of joy, and help two newlyweds who have only had 6 1/2 weeks together since February 22, 2013 be able to be together and share their life? Will you be a champion who helps love win out over governmental red tape? Please join us - www.indiegogo.com/projects/keep-love-together And if you haven't seen it yet, there is a video telling our story at: http://youtu.be/80KtlCm5E4k To all those who have already contributed, thank you. To those who have helped to spread the word, thank you. To all of you who continue to spread the word and to help in every way you can - thank you - we cannot do it without you. Thank you for being our love champion. Kat & Paul

campaign link

I can't believe I forgot to include the campaign link in the last post!!

Down To The Wire

So we're down to the last week of the indiegogo campaign (I know, you're probably thinking "Yay! Now she'll write about something else!" *grin*). We are currently $1,450 to our $6,000 goal. And first of all, I want to say a big huge THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to our love fund. And that's what I really want to talk about today - love. I want to tell you about this amazing journey, and this incredible man who has picked me to share his life. I've been through a lot - an alcoholic marriage, several abusive relationships, and a lot of men who would rather take advantage of me than get to know me (yeah, you could say I've had pretty lousy taste in men - a couple of good ones, but mostly not so much). I was at the point that if anyone told me I would meet someone, I wanted to punch them in the face. Paul, in many ways, was the opposite. He'd had a series of nice girlfriends, then met and married his now ex-wife. Sadly, she was a manipulator of the highest order, subtly controlling and making his world so small by driving people away that the only ones he had was her and their son. She convinced him to move to the U.S. (not too hard, since he'd always wanted to come here), then left him, and has done everything possible to separate him from his son - she's thrown out everything of Paul's that he didn't take with him when he moved out (she sent him back to Australia when they separated by telling him they were moving back to work things out and she was sending him on ahead to get everything ready, so he would go. Then as soon as he got there, she told him their marriage was over), including his baby book and letter from his now-deceased mother. When he gave the (court-ordered) cell phone to his son so that Z could call him anytime, she threw that in the trash. She won't let Z talk to his dad if he calls, and currently will not allow any form of communication between them, has made Z de-friend anyone on the X-Box she thinks might be connected to his father, limits the time Z can speak with his half-brother because she knows he talks to Paul, sits next to Z anytime he is on the X-Box to make sure he isn't talking to his dad, and throws away anything that is given to Z by Paul, me, or my mother. So needless to say, when I met him, Paul was working overnights at a convenience store, part-time as the fish guy at the grocery (both minimum wage jobs), and trying to stay awake to spend time with his son. He wasn't interested in meeting anyone after what he'd been through - until we met. He was drawn to my "sparkle", and I got lost in those big brown eyes. We went through a lot in those first 5 months - he was denied custody of his son at the end of his long court battle, he tried to leave when he got scared of being hurt, but somehow we found the strength to connect and commit. Leaving him for 8 months to work on the cruise ship was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I loved what I was doing, but always felt hollow, because my other half was missing. While I was on ship, we decided we didn't want to waste any more time, and started planning our wedding for 5 weeks after I returned home, and we wed exactly 14 months to the day after we met. I have to say, I have never seen a more perfect day. I literally watched a room full of people fall in love with this sweet, gentle, amazing man. Also while on board ship, we realized that if we stayed in the U.S., we'd likely never be able to make anything above survival wages, and Paul was really homesick - so we made the choice to build our life together in his hometown of Adelaide, Australia. We have been so humbled to have so many people supportive of our love, and to want to see us succeed. The dancing, the food, the sheer joy of the day - it was literally a day overflowing with love. 10 days after we wed, Paul left for Australia. We have no idea when we will see each other in person again. At the encouragement of friends, we started the indiegogo campaign to help offset the phenomenal costs involved to relocate our lives to Australia. It is $6,000 just for me to immigrate there. We pretty much cleaned ourselves out paying for the wedding and Paul's airfare. I'm still paying off debt that was incurred when I was out of work for more than 6 months (and being a freelancer, I didn't qualify for unemployment). So now we're saving to bring me over and to get a home and life in Australia. Some quotes from folks who have already contributed on why they chose to support our campaign: "In our world there is so much hurt and struggle and disease, and with social media there are waves of support daily, through prayer, donations and words of comfort and encouragement. I felt moved by the opportunity to contribute to a positive outcome, Kat & Paul, so clearly committed & in love. Circumstances of life have created the opportunity for their community to rally support to bring them together. $10, $20, $50 does make a difference, it is inspired action. An opportunity to support Love & LOVE WINS! Blessing <3" "For Love, With Love." "Kat and Paul have renewed my faith in finding love. I thought the fairy tale ending happened only in the movies. Who wouldn't want to be part of a real life fairy tale ending?" Please consider joining us - only 7 days left in the campaign (it ends March 3rd). Thank you.

A matter of moments

Today has been a powerful day for me. It started out much like any other, a quick FaceTime with my husband as he was getting ready for bed and I was getting up to start my day, a day of work trying to be of service to others. Then 2 things happened - I had a conversation with particular customer, and I received an email blast. The email was from a friend in the magic community bringing very sad news: someone I used to be good friends with before my divorce from my ex-husband has suffered a massive stroke, the left side of his brain is "dead", he has no speech and no movement. He is expected to live only days more, if not just hours. He's so young - maybe late 50's at the outside. I have always known him to be a vibrant, zestful, larger-than-life beautiful Italian man. His wife is understandably devastated by this, and I am grateful that she has chosen to let their larger community know, so they can say goodbye to this amazing man that it is so hard to believe will be gone all to soon. The conversation with the customer was touching on so many levels. She came into the bank to make a withdrawal, and somehow we got on the topic of the upcoming Valentine's Day. We laughed when we both realized we had a "yeah, so what" response to the topic. As it turns out, she lost her husband very unexpectedly about 5 months ago. He was another healthy, vibrant individual who had an out-of-the-blue heart attack. She was with him when she passed, saying the paramedics brought him back 3 different times before they finally lost the battle. The last time they brought her back, he reached out and took her arm, unable to speak, but letting her know that he didn't want to let go, but he had to. They were a couple who loved fully and passionately, and no amount of time together would be enough. She has been struggling to take care of all the things around the house that he did, learning to manage her finances when he controlled it all, and generally learning to be more independent and self-reliant than she ever thought she'd have to be. The main thing that came out of this for me is to treasure every moment. The truth is, we are all mortal, we will all die at some point. Every year, without knowing it, we pass what will become the anniversary of our death - and for the most part, most days, we manage to not think too terribly much about it. But the reality is that our time here is finite. Our time with the people we care most about is ever more fleeting, and when it is gone, it will never have been enough. My customer would give just about anything to have "one more hour, one more minute" with her beloved husband (they were only married 7 years). My mom feels the same about my dad, who left us January 2000. I know Rachel (my magician friend's wife) sees the years they had together as just a beginning, and is having a hard time seeing the world as a place that doesn't have him in it. Yesterday I went to the Holyoke Mall, Paul's "happy place" in Western MA. Everywhere I turned, I saw favorite places of his or his son's, and it made my heart hurt with missing them both. Don't get me wrong - I am beyond grateful that my missing is him being on the other side of the planet rather than gone completely. That my nostalgia is for times that we shared, and knowing I can talk with him about it the next time we Skype. And oh how grateful I am for Skype and FaceTime! That I have the gift of seeing his face and hearing the voice of my beloved on a nearly daily basis. But if nothing else, it also brought home to me today how precious every moment is. I encourage you, that if your beloved is near you, hold them just a little tighter and little longer tonight, for those who can no longer do so. Take that extra moment to hold their face in view and etch them in your mind and further into your heart. Gaze on them as they sleep and breathe them in when you hug them. Treasure the fact that your loved ones are within arms reach - and reach for them. Hold them, love them, and tell them how much you love them - for all those who cannot. Touch them while you can, for all those who would give anything for one more touch from a beloved. And if you can find it in your heart to help Paul and I have a little less time apart that we might have otherwise, we would really appreciate your help in our campaign to get me to Australia so we can be together, with luck for our first Anniversary. Please visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/keep-love-together - please put some love out into the world, and know that you are part of helping to create a very happy ending - and beginning.

30 days and counting...

So we're now 30 days out from the end of the campaign, and only 1/5 of the way to the goal ($1,067 to $6,000) We know this is a tough time for a lot of people, and that in many ways ours is not the greatest need. We started this campaign at the urging of our friends, who saw how amazingly in love we are, and enjoyed sharing in that love when they were able to join us at our wedding and reception. So we ask you, our friends, those who love us, and want to see us be together. Who know how hard it was for us to endure the 8 months apart when I was working on the cruise ship, and how hard these past couple months have been with Paul in Australia and myself in the U.S., with no idea when we will be able to see and hold each other again. Who may not know that we've also being going through some health issues and scares, made that much more terrifying for not being able to be together and look after each other. We ask you to find it within yourself to support our cause of love. We know that a lot of folks can't afford much, but even $5 or $10 will help us get that much closer - and if enough people put in a small amount, we'll reach our goal in no time. We are working toward this goal too, not asking everyone else to foot the bill for us. We work every day toward raising the money for my immigration expenses, as well as toward the first/last/security for our home together and the furnishings to make it a home. We thank you for your love and support, and really hope you will find a way to contribute, and will share the link to allow others the joy of helping a fair tale come true. <3