March 23, 2015

Please support these generous donors who have supported Trivia Night:

Paravati Catering Group

McM Entertainment

Wegmans Food Stores

Costco

Giant Food Stores

The Happy Mixer

LNW Photography

Portrait Innovations

Philadelphia 76ers

Longwood Gardens

Ambler YMCA

Villari’s Karate

Thirty-One consultant: Pat Tranzilli

DoTerra consultant: Lisa Gagan

The Little Pod – Indoor Playground

Sports Authority

Custom jewelry by Marie Sayers

Montgomery United Soccer Club

Philadelphia Union

Taormina’s Italian Restaurant

NPHS Theater Group

Temple University

Belovely Floral & Event Design

…and SO MANY generous friends! 

December 11, 2014

Rich & Maryanne's speeches from Trivia Night:

Rich: "Thank you all for being here tonight. Maryanne and I are in awe and are humbled by all of the support you have provided for us.

Words cannot adequately express the deep gratitude that we feel for everyone here tonight.

Thank you to those who worked so hard to make this night special:

Thank you to Pat Tranzilli, Cindy Haley, Giselle Schwartz, Lisa Wildman, Marie Sayers, Joyce Abbott, Lora Yanagawa, Tammy Johnson, Jennifer Karpf, Sue Weiner, Sharon Palm, Mary Wagner and a special thank you to Beth Staab whose remarkable efforts to organize, plan and manage this wonderful event is deeply appreciated. Thank you so much for making this an evening that we will never forget. Beth...you did a phenomenal job.

A special thank you also to Theresa Romano who organized and communicated the meal schedule that has been incredibly helpful to our family. Thank you to all of you who have taken time out from your very busy lives to provide us with fantastic meals. I truly don't know what we would have done without your help.

Thank you to my sister Barbara and her husband Mike and their family...their son Michael and his wife Missy. Their help and advice with the many decisions that needed to be made has been tremendously helpful. Thank you.

Just a quick note on our sons, Richard and Matthew. They have handled this challenging situation exceptionally well. They have handled more responsibilities and chores around the house and have helped with Maryanne's care. They are becoming good cooks especially using the outdoor grill. Maryanne and I are very lucky to have such wonderful sons.

Maryanne is a very special woman as many of us know. She is full of life and energy and loves the company of people, friends, neighbors, family and especially children. She lights up whenever she is near a child or young adult. When we arrived home from our first visit at Moss Rehab last week, the children living in our cul-de-sac all came running up to her yelling her name...Mrs. West, Mrs. West. Each of them had a story to tell of their day at school and the bus ride home. Maryanne listened intently and provided sage advice.

We will be standing in line at a Phillies game and Maryanne will strike up a long running conversation with a child behind us...asking about school, teachers, does he/she play baseball, who is his/her favorite player, etc. Richard will turn to me and say;

"Who does that. It's embarrassing. Make her stop."

Of course, there is no stopping Maryanne...particularly when it comes to children. She loved being the President of the Home and School Association. She wants to be involved with making a difference in a child's life and making it better somehow and in turn, make all of our lives better and more enjoyable.

Being around Maryanne makes my life more enjoyable, more fun and exciting even today. She brightens up my life in so many ways...she has a tremendously high level of energy and has always focused her attention on her children. She has a great sense of humor and loves the company of her friends and family.

Her situation does not seem to have significantly diminished her joy of life. She continues to laugh and enjoy the company of family and friends. She remains determined to recover as much as possible. She never complains and is never negative even though no one would blame her if she did. Her strength and desire to recover is exceptionally strong and an inspiration to me and our sons.

She is thankful for all of the help she receives....she thanks me for giving her a glass of water, for covering her with a blanket, for helping her with her therapy exercises, for taking her to doctor visits and to Richard and Matthew's baseball and hockey games, putting on her shoes...she thanks me for everything. I continually tell her that I am her husband, you don't need to thank me....I am supposed to do these things and I want to do them for you. And for some reason, I find myself wanting to be with her more now than ever before.

She remains determined to recover as much as possible. She has already far exceeded what the doctors at Temple told us. She has significantly more movement in her legs than they anticipated. They did not expect much movement in her arms at all...not only does she have significant movement but she can lift weights with her arms and can now feed herself.

The therapists at Magee, Luther Woods in Hatboro and the wonderful therapists who came to our home (Susan and Heather Pelletier) have told us that they have been provided therapy services for many, many years and that Maryanne has demonstrated the most determination, will and desire to recover that they have ever seen. Her spirit and attitude remain amazingly upbeat and positive.

Which brings me to you. This night means more to us than you will ever know. Much of Maryanne's strength and desire to recover is coming from all of you in this room tonight. It is your remarkable kindness and generosity and support that helps to keep Maryanne's spirits high and inspires her to work even harder during her therapy sessions. Your support and kindness is helping Maryanne recover faster than she otherwise would. We thank you more than you can possibly know for helping her to heal. We believe that with the continued support of our friends and family, she will achieve a high level of independence. If anyone can recover and walk again from this injury, it will be Maryanne and she has you to thank for giving her the support and inspiration to recover. Thank you so very much from the bottom of our hearts. How can we ever repay you."

Maryanne: "Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am humbled and appreciative of all of the love and support I have received from family and friends. I just want you all to know how special you are to me.

As Rich said earlier, I want to make sure that everyone knows how much work and effort the committee members have put into planning tonight's event. Beth Staab and everyone on the committee went above and beyond to organize and manage this wonderful event. To take so much time out of your daily lives for me, I will be eternally grateful. The sacrifices that have been made on my behalf have left me in awe of everyone here tonight.

I can't get over how much help and support I have had since the accident. From friends who visit to rides for Richard and Matthew to meals being delivered to rides to Moss Rehab to the ramp being installed in front of the house so I can take my daily walks to the raffle at Home Run Derby to help us purchase a manual wheelchair to the portable ramp which has helped me visit several of my closest friends.

It's easy to feel isolated in the situation I am in but I haven't felt that at all. Friends have brought lunch for me, the phone calls I receive are appreciated, etc. The amount of support I have had has been tremendous and words cannot express how much I am grateful for all of your help.

Please enjoy this evening and please know that I love each and every one of you here tonight."