One of my long time freinds lives in another state.
She has been through so much the last 20+ years and is the most awesome person you've ever met.
If you met Martina you'd take an instant liking to her. Everyone does.
We met in late summer 1979. After church she and her husband were greeting and talking with others. I walked up and we introduced ourselves.
We'd just joined this new church and wanted to make freinds.
A few weeks later, I packed a large picnic lunch and loaded our motorhome with everything needed for inviting others.
After small chat after church we invited Martina and her family to join us for lunch....were they "game" to go on an adventure?
We decided to drive up into the mountains where there was a large campground.
On the way up they'd stopped at home for a change of clothing and coats.
After lunch both our husbands made meaningful conversation.
Our sons both the same age became pals and soon were hurling cow pies across the pasture.
Martina and I stoked the campfire as we chatted the entire day away.
Darkness fell upon us as we continued talking.
We'd put a huge "tree" into the fire and would shove this in as the night wore on.
Everyone else had bunked down into a bed in the motorhome.....while Martina and I laughed and chatted as if we'd been long lost freinds needing to catch up.
It was 4 AM when the embers began to die down.
We had literally talked the night away.

We had so much in common both coming from disfunctional families, suffering physical and sexual abuse by those who should have protected and art.
Martina could oil paint a realistic portrait like no one I've ever seen.
We became inseperable from that day on. We always found something to laugh about and we'd often giggle ouselves silly over the simplest things.
We always had compassion for those in need...thats another thing we had in comman.

But as time and family pressures came into our lives....we were forced to drift apart.
Not that we wanted to...but situations caused things to turn a different way than we wanted.
My husbands job took us to another state.
My growing family through adoption kept me overwhelmingly busy.
It was a tearful parting as our moving van began the long journey.
I was "losing" my best friend I'd ever had in this whole wide world.
We always wrote TMBFITWWW on our cards, letters and mailings.

Martina was a little on the heavy side....but not what you'd call obese. Just a little "fluffy"!
Then one day...while walking out of a famous Italian restaurant a step broke under her foot.
She fell backwards, breaking her back in several places.
Many surgeries later, numerous complications, months in the hospitals, rehab centers, her world slowly fell apart.
With no money for rent they moved in with her sister and her family.
Her sister Mary had custody of their other sisters 3 children...so there was a total of 9 kids in that family.
Unable to function because of the pain, Martina was not much of a wife....her husband drifted into another relationship shattering Martina's world.
Due to her unrelenting back pain, medications and inactivity, Martina slowly began gaining weight. Eating was just about the only pleasure left for her.
By the time she got into court, fighting the restuarant that had been sited by the county numerous times for that very bad step, Martina had become very over weight.
The shoddy lawer she had did little to pursued the jury that she did not cause the step to break because of her weight. When she'd fallen under the broken step she was somewhat normal weight.
But the jury only saw what they saw and it didnt look good.
The inexperienced lawer she had did as little as she could.
Too late in the game and no money for a new lawyer(Martina couldn't even afford a couple dollars for filing fees)....this was looking worse for Martina.
It was told that there was Mafia ties to the chain of restuarants and no one was willing to fight what looked like an uphill losing battle. Martina swears her lawyer was paid off...she was that incompetant...but who's going to tell?

Her lawyer was being threatend with a counter law suite for what they called Martinas false clame and it looked like Martina was not only going to lose the case, but was going to have to pay for her own defense as well as pay the Restaraunts litigation fees..... Life was just not fair.

When she was cross examined during the proccedings people laughed at her when the restaraunts lawyer mocked her "waddling walk" and obestitiy that caused the step to break!
A complete lie! Shame on him! But it cost Martina total embarresment and disrespect.

She lost her case....never got a single cent for her injury and nothing paid for her medical nightmare that followed the years for her broken back.

Her 10 year old car's transmission blew....causing more financial woes.
When the car finally got fixed a drunk driver hit her breaking her fragile back again.
More surgery....more rehab Martina nearly died from an infection she'd gotten while in the hospital. She spent weeks in a coma from sepsis....a blood infection.

With minimal insurance on her part, the drunk of course didn't have any....Martina only lost out.

Then her mother discoverd she had breast cancer...she died only a few years later.
Forced into living with her sister, numerous kids from a blended family Martina's husband took off.
Alone and depressed all she could do was eat.
She gained over 300 lbs during all this....now weighs well over 500;bs.
She applied for SSI over 15 years ago. The 3rd time before the judge.....
The very cold judge was adamat she could work despite having pain, pins in her back oxygen dependant, severe fatigue, fibromyalgia, RSD in her back, serious depression, Congestive heart failure, feet swollen 3 times their sizeunable to wear shoes and grossly obese !
She has been turned down 6 times. The judge spent less than 20 seconds to reveiw her paperwork and case....made a snap decision...sure he was making all sorts of ugly thoughts towards this wonderful person......How could they do this to her?
She's had to reapply putting her back into the begining again....if and when she ever gains it she will not be able to claim retroactive except the 2 years prior to her last application.
If only we could get someone of authority to look into her case....they'd probably roll some heads!
Martina continues her fight in gaining SSI.She paid into it for years!
Her new SSI lawyer who promised to helped cannot be found....all her paperwork still in the "works"...it's been "missing" well over a year. This is so wrong!

I was living my own nightmare with my family and husbands cancer, so I couldn't be there for her as much as I wanted to. Besides my working full time and 1,600 miles between us......We can only give so much.

During this time her nephew developed Kidney disease and finally had a transplant.
He became a drug seeking addict from the years of pain managment from this.
His father, Dave, a trucker also developed kidney disease and was out on disablity when someone stole his truck and wrecked it.
His wife, Mary, Martina's sister, also had a drug problem as a teenager, but she struggled to stay clean and sobber despite all that was happening.
But the drugs took their toll on her body, she lost all her teeth when she was less than 40 years old. She also suffers Fibromyalgia and fatigue.

During the time her husband Dave was struggling with health, no money for even the basics, they foreclosed on their mortgage and took their nearly paid for home away to pay for his medical.
Totally stripped of what dignatey was left....they moved into the worst "house" you could imagine. Martina lives in a little shack next to this, but it's home to them.
It's something you'd expect to see in a 3rd world country...not here in the USA.

It's a good thing they live in a warm climate and not needing to heat it.
They barley have running water but the bathroom doesn't really work.This summer when we saw them my grand daughter needed to use their toilet....she came out with a look of shock on her face...whispering...gramma.....oh my gosh....gramma....
But struggle with all their might, they needed money just to survive.
Martina knew a freind, who had a junk yard....maybe Dave, her brother in law, could just watch the place during the night for a few dollars under the table. What other choice did this man have?
It was either starve or do what he could to feed his family.
Dave went to work Wednesday night.....he was shot and killed during a robbery of the junk yard. This is still under investigation. Dave did nothing wrong...he was a very good person who worked hard. Someone came into the Junk yard trying to take back their repossed car and shot Dave in the process.

Martina has taken this personally. She feels it's all her fault...if only she hadn't told Dave about this job. She has fallen into the depths of depression because of her guilt feelings.

2 years ago Martina finally made the decision to have gastric bypass surgery.
She fit the standards for this and later this Octorber was set for this to be done.
During her recent health work up for this they found several lumps in Martinas breast.
What they found during the MRI is not good and her family history of breast cancer makes this even more urgent she get this taken care of. She faces that this week.
Her mother, Joyce, was the same age Martina is now when she found a lump in her breast.

How could life be so unfair to this family? Why do so many bad things happen to such a good person. Martina is the most loving person on this earth.
She is so depressed and feels so betrayed by God.
Please Pray for her, her sister Mary and Daves children during this terrible time.
Please pray that Martina will understand this is not her fault.
And anytime you see someone who is very obese and living in a dumpy home, please remember this story....Martina did't ask for this mess in her life. Under all that fat and skin is the most beautiful person in this whole world!
Yes...it was her fault she became obese...but do you blame her?
There for the Grace of God go I!
Please pray, pray, pray for my friend Martina, her sister Mary and their children.
She is a wonderful person who deserves so much more. Blessings, Cheryl

I will keep Martina and her family in my prayers.

I hope and pray that the outcome for Martina will be a positive one Cheryl

i will pray for her