Twenty-four years ago during the 1997-98 school year, I hosted my first exchange student, a wonderful girl from Mexico named Silvia Realpozo Sanchez. Afterwards, I went on to host students from Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic, and I loved all of them, but without that first phenomenal experience with Silvia, I probably wouldn't have hosted again or as often as I did.
Since then, Silvia has simply become part of my family and my dearest friend. Her own parents died in a car accident a short time after her stay with me, and I started going down to Mexico to attend family events with her as a sort of second mom, but we're only eleven years apart in age, so I'm more like an older sister, really. She's also come back here for many short visits (the photo is from her first return visit after Sam was born in 1999), an extended stay, and then for two years as an non-traditional student at Norfolk Community College.
She planned to stay longer and get a second degree, but her health dictated otherwise. Last November, after a lengthy stay in the hospital, Silvia had to return to Mexico to receive affordable dialysis because her kidneys shut down and, essentially, died. Since then, she has had a roller coaster ride dealing with many issues, but her need for a kidney transplant remains. Without one, her life is very limited because she has to receive dialysis three times a week. Naturally, that makes having any sort of normal job difficult for her as well.
She's managed to get by, barely, and there is hope that her cousin will be able to donate a kidney to her, but Mexico recently suspended all transplants with a surge in covid cases. So, for now, she must remain on dialysis.
As I mentioned before, dialysis in Mexico is affordable at least. Here, in the U.S., it can run up to thousands of dollars per treatment. In Mexico, it costs her $100 per treatment, which is still a lot to handle for her since she can't find steady work. Then, there is the upcoming cost of the transplant, if and when it finally happens, to contend with.
I am doing what I can to help her, naturally. I always will. She is my family and my friend and one of the best persons I've ever known. I miss having her around, and I hope to travel to see her soon, but since I've left teaching to focus on my writing and I'm not old enough yet for my monthly retirement pension to kick in, my finances don't allow for as much as I'd like to do for her.
I'm writing this to ask anyone who knows Silvia and how wonderful she is, to please help me to help her. She still has her bank account here from when she was a student. I've been holding off on closing it because it's a way for me to easily transfer money to her. I asked her to see if she could use her debit card from it for a dialysis treatment, so she gave it a try, and it worked.
I can transfer money straight to her account from mine. If you are someone who would like to help, you have some options.
First, you can personally give me money that I can deposit in her account either by coming to my house and handing me the money or by sending me a check. I will provide my address to anyone who messages me to ask for it.
Secondly, if you live in or near Neligh, you can go to Heritage Bank and directly deposit money into her account in person. Naturally, you can totally trust me to do that for you, but I understand if you would prefer to do it yourself and have a receipt to acknowledge it.
Third, Silvia is setting up a GoFundMe page, but as of this writing, she hasn't yet. A part of her is resisting doing it because she doesn't like to ask for help. That's another reason I'm writing this -- I'm asking on her behalf. I don't much like the GoFundMe possibility myself, either, but that's mostly because that company keeps a small part of each donation, and I'd rather Silvia benefited from every dime that people want to give her.
Fourth, and I only offer this as an option for people who like to get something for their money, I will give her my earnings from any book or Mary Kay product that you come to my house to buy in person from me for this purpose. It won't amount to a lot, unless you want a lot of my books or a lot of products, but every dollar helps.
In the past three years, I've lost my best friend from college to cancer at the age of 50 (Silvia went to Dallas with me four summers ago so I could spend some time with that friend --see above photo -- and she attended that friend's funeral with me and helped me grieve), one of my best friends at work who was also one of the best men I've ever known to cancer and a surgery gone wrong at the age of 40, my boyfriend's son to suicide at the age of 32 (Silvia was there for us through all of that), my beloved uncle to covid at the age of 60 (you can read about him in an earlier post on this site if you want, and Silvia was there for me during that time, too, even though she was already getting sick but didn't know it yet), and my dear aunt only a few days after my uncle. There have been others, too, and we have all experienced loss these past few years, so I'm, by no means, alone in dealing with grief.
Silvia is only 41, and she has a daughter who needs her (the following photo is of Silvia and Constanza, her daughter and her world). She and I had hopes of one day opening a retreat for writers, artists, yoga, etc., in Mexico, so that was part of her reason for getting a business degree. She also has so many other aspirations that, for now, aren't possible until she gets a kidney, so she can travel with ease again.
She and I have seen and done a lot together. We've been to Jaltipan, Xalapa, Veracruz, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Chichen Itza, Progreso, Holbox Island, Merida, and many other places in Mexico as well as here in the U.S., but there are so many others we still want to see. We've climbed ruins, swum with whale sharks, jumped into cenotes, and laughed until we cried over a giant takeout bag in a Chili's in Merida.
At the end of this, I'm going to put some of photos of Silvia and me over the years, so you can see how much she's been in my life. This was the last photo we were able to take together the night before she flew back to Mexico. I've missed her every day since.
If you know her, consider yourself lucky because she's one of the sweetest people you could ever know. If you don't know her, help me to help her stay healthy until she can get a kidney, and then we'll be sure to visit, so you can get to know her.
Any amount, seriously any amount, would be appreciated. It's $100 U.S.dollars -- well, specifically $102.46 -- (2,000 pesos) per dialysis, three times per week. If you can help, just let me know. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Love,
Tammy
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