Hi, my english name is jeff. i am a CREE. My indigenous name given to me by my grandfather at birth is Bear Child. i am her father. all my life i have worked hard to support her in her journey through life. i have raised this beautiful lady and taught her all i know of life. i have tried to lead by example for her future. i tried my best to hide her from pain and suffering. from the racism i have faced as a indigenous male with long hair and brown skin. i have tried to work all my life. it is not easy to do with these types of barriers.
i am proud to say i am the first in my blood line to have graduated high school in 1999 from a white school. i was sent to it by my grandparents because they knew education was key. it is the only way to get a job that you can raise a family on.
we are not rich in money, but rich in family and traditions. i have raised her and her brother Ky, since 2007 without any help financially or otherwise, from their biological mother. choice or no choice, i dont know either. She has had her own issues in life and has chosen to stay away from us, which is for the better, as drugs and alcohol has taken over her life. we have not seen for over 14 years. thank goodness, i know that is not a good thing to say about someone, but its has helped us thrive in other ways. while i dont like to complain about money, actually this is the first time i have told anyone that we have never received a single penny from her. i dont bother with small stuff i cant control, this i control.
today i am praying to the creator to listen to me as i put this out in the universe. it was always taught to me if you do that, something or someone good might be listening. today i ask for that help. financial help to help pay for GRAD costs. this is very important to us as a family and as a indigenous people. i do this so that her children and my other grandchildren if i have them can learn that it is our future. to help our people achieve success in education and that the welfare line is not the only way. that turning to drugs doesn’t help anyone. and that alcohol is not the only answer.
as i write this, i am 2280 days alcohol free. that is big where i come from. my parents were alcoholics as were there parents before them. it has been a generational curse. if you believe in them. i do. i have tried my best to break the cycle if that is what its called. i have been able to abstain from it for over 6 years with the help of my common law partner Theresa. i call her mother Theresa. She took us in with 4 daughters of her own. im not a big believer in GOD but i do believe in creation. we are all put here for a purpose and hers was to help me raise these children and to bless me with two others. Sam and Mailey. we are a blended family, maybe because of necessity or because of destiny. but we are going to make it… so lets talk about Char.
Charlize is a beautiful person. a smart and dedicated student. a kind and loving daughter who puts others before herself, as i have taught her. who throughout all the odds against her and a global pandemic not to mention, has completed and achieved her high school diploma.
She will graduate in June 2022. This is such a feat that should not go unrecognized. she pulled the wool over my eyes in 2019 when she didnt inform me of her grade 9 commencement. she told me that she wasn’t that important to have one. i totally disagreed with her. i promised her, that i would make it a reality for her Grade 12.
i learnt that day that i would do anything to make it a reality. maybe i write this in vain, or in hopes of finding an angel. or its a mistake. i dont know. i wont know until i do it.
and that brings me to this page.
i woke up today. praying as i always do. praying for some answers, to what is my meaning in life. and i thought of her. my first daughter. the one who i knew first. my first love. real love. she has made me realize that i am not alone in our journey. you can say she is a reflection of me when i was younger. i am off work today due to illness. i have contracted Pneumonia and have to take some time off which leaves me in a further dilemma.
how do i pay for a grad dress and all the fixings on my $20/hr job. and feed 5 other kids at the same time. and pay rent and utilities. all while sick at home. boy when barriers are put in front of you, he doesn’t make it easy.
so today, i ask someone, to take pity on us.
my ask is for $2500. that’s a months wages for me. to help provide for my daughter a memorable Grade 12 Grad. one for the books. if and when i am financially stable, i will do the same for as many as i can…..
my Paypal requests is…
https://paypal.me/jeffraine