The Circle of Life
No, I'm not talking about a Disney movie or an Elton John song. I am, however, talking about an adage that's included in the lyrics to the song: You should never take more than you give.
I've taken down the PayPal donation button that I put in the upper left sidebar yesterday. Within 24 hours, I have received $3,004.00 in US dollars. I'm absolutely positive this is more than enough to cover expenses, including those that are unforeseen. I'm also absolutely sure this would not have been able to happen without the support of some key players.
The response to my problem has been overwhelming. Have you ever seen a grown man cry?
Several bloggers suggested that I leave the button in place. I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable receiving more than what is absolutely necessary. Also, a few bloggers mentioned the phrase, "pay it forward". That is exactly what I intend to do, among other things. I expect to be informed when other bloggers fall on unexpected hard times so that I can contribute to THEIR needs (after I return in March, of course).
You know, it doesn't help when I'm listening to music that reminds me of how this all started; the relationship, the marriage, and the continuing life together. The following music video (which could disappear from YouTube at anytime) is dedicated to my wife, Josephine, who also reads my blog. We listened to it originally sung by George Benson in 1985, but the 1987 version by Glen Medeiros is the one we remember and the one we have on CD. It's "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You":
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RT,
That's awesome. It's always good to see people helping people, even those they've never met. I'm sure many people are going to come back here and check out to see how you and your family are doing.
Ahh.. the Glenn Medeiros song brings back memories. The good ol' 80's.
God bless you.
Hock's last blog post..RT at Untwisted Vortex Needs Your Help
Fabulous RT. And don't you feel guilty for one second. You're a good man and people wouldn't have donated if they didn't want to.
Best to you and Josie. You guys will come out stronger.
Jay Thompson's last blog post..Phoenix Real Estate Guy Gets a Face Lift
Congrats! I knew, that with the people you had behind you, that it would happen. Go take care of that beautiful wife of yours!
Jeremy Hobbs's last blog post..Lend a helping hand?
This is probably going to go down in the bloggers history books for 2008. I am so very happy to discover how much the blogosphere came forward to help you. That is truly amazing.
Garry Conn's last blog post..John Chow Is Getting Fat!
Awesome news, love to see everyone pulling together like that.
Hope your wife's surgery goes well and now you can at least focus on her 100% and not worry about the money side of things!
Good luck!
Mike Olbinski's last blog post..DirectTV upgrades: 30 Second Skip, Scheduler; And I miss my to-do button
This is heartwarming and I am glad the blogosphere came together to help!
Ellie's last blog post..Tips to get more out of your WordPress blog
Glad to see the fast respond to needs of help.
Godspeed to your wife RT!!
Terence's last blog post..Blogger In Need.
Hi RT,
Wow, if this story doesn't re-enforce our faith in the generosity of man …
I'm glad to hear that your fellow blogger were able to come through for you.
I hope your trip goes smoothly, and your wife has a speedy recovery.
Todd
Aloha Team's last blog post..The Honolulu Zoo
Hi RT,
That's good news. I'm glad with the quick response from Blogosphere.
Rocky
Rocky John's last blog post..Help A Fellow Blogger In Need
[...] RT just updated his site informing us that a donation of more than US$3K has been received within 24 hours after he puts up [...]
So glad that you have all the help you need, RT. My best wishes to you!
Razlan's last blog post..Help a fellow blogger in need
R.T.
Now you made me cry with happiness
This is beyond amazing and like Gary said, this will go down in history.
It's one of those flash byes you see mentioned at the end of the year in sports.
Big hugs to you and your lovely family!
Gee, this video does bring back memories.
Thanks to all who helped R.T. out, you guys all ROCK!
Monika
Freelance Writing's last blog post..The Power of Blogging to Help a Blogger in Need
I'm glad to see the overwhelming response of bloggers here.
Earning goodwill is far more important than earning a Pagerank. Pageranks are by robots, but I think what you've really earned over a period of time is goodwill and that is something that will never leave you and nobody can take it away from you.
I hope that more bloggers see beyond search engines and pageranks and reach out to people rather than Google. Will do the world more good that way…
hari's last blog post..Papa Hari said Papa Hari said
RT, you've always given so much to others… I came looking for your paypal button, looking for a way to repay. Since that's not possible now, guess I'll just 'do what RT would do' and 'pay it forward' instead…
Very best to you and Josephine.
Take care.
See you when you get back.
Thanks for the great comments, everyone. I plan to make periodic updates as the situation progresses.
[...] http://www.untwistedvortex.com/2008/01/17/the-circle-of-life/ [...]
This has made my day, I am so pleased that good folks have rallied round to help. How wonderful. I also bow down to you for your honesty in taking down the PayPal button when you thought that there would be enough to cover expenses. Please give all my best wishes to your wife.
[...] I am delighted to be able to let you know that RT Cunningham of Untwisted Vortex has received USD $3,004.00 in donations to help him out during his wife's upcoming operation. He has posted about it – The Circle of Life. [...]
My thoughts are with you RT. Only just caught up on your news and very happy that so many people have rallied round.Good luck and best wishes to you and your family.
janet's last blog post..Cross Browser Compatibility
I'm so happy for you RT. Just goes to show you how much you are loved and appreciated. I am so happy for you and your wife. Loved the song. Awesome. Have a great day RT.
Comedy Plus's last blog post..Viruses
Oh, I'm glad it all worked out. Now, if you need virtual "school boy-sitters" for your son, I'm not sure how we can arrange that, maybe there are some bright ideas out there?
All the best, RT, to your wife as well… and enjoy what parts of your trip that you can!
Stine's last blog post..A Selection Of Blinds
Thats great news RT, feels gr8 that people did come forward to help. The least we could do to help someone who gave us gr8 reading material
RT: I just read about your predicament, thanks to Blogging Zoom. I'm so happy to hear that you'll be able to make the trip to be with your wife. There's a lot of good in this universe! Best of luck to you, and your wife. We'll all look forward to your return. Take your time. We'll be here when you get back.
JD's last blog post..I Take Drugs so you don’t have to
I am glad to hear that you got what you needed. That is a blessing that you had people willing to help you. If you don't mind sharing I would like to know who you contacted to get your needs met in 24 hours. I am a blogger and have had a non-profit up for at least 90 days at my blogsite to help displaced entrepreneur women and have not gotten one dollar donated. The url is http://dwibarw.chipin.com/dwentrepreneurs. I also started a blog on January 14, 2008 http://displacedentrepreneur.blogspot.com because currently I am a "displaced entrepreneur" with nowhere to go. I will be giving as much as possible a day by day account of what happens with me.
I have found there are absolutely no resources available to the entrepreneur who falls on hard times in the state of Pennsylvania. I plan to send Senator Obama and Senator Clinton my findings on this.
Arlene Whiting's last blog post..Internet Magazine for bloggers
That's just it, Arlene. I didn't really contact anyone. I wrote about my predicament, looking for suggestions and the bloggers came out of their feeds and woodwork to help. It's that simple.
Of course, I've spent well over a year getting to know a lot of the prominent bloggers. Vic over at bloggerunleashed.com read it, contacted Darren at problogger.net and both wrote about it. Darren has thousands of readers and Vic has quite a few too. The effect snowballed within 24 hours.
[...] got the word out and helped RT raise over $3,000 in 24 hours. It gives me the warm fuzzies to think of the way bloggers pulled together to help out. Thanks [...]
Great news, RT. All the best to you and your wife.
Stevo's last blog post..losing face
Looking forward to seeing your "pay it forward" ventures in the future so I can be a part of it.
RT,
Glad to hear the good news. Again, my warmest regards to Mrs. Cunningham.
Take care of yourself too, mate.
Cheers.
costa's last blog post..Latest 2 Column WordPress Theme – GreenTech
Nuts. Just found out about your wife's plight through the Writer's Manifesto.
I would've donated too sooner. But glad to hear your problem's resolved, and I too wish you and your wife the best!
[...] RT's Circle of Life post, he said this: I've taken down the PayPal donation button that I put in the upper left [...]
Congrat's RT.
I am so happy for you. Good people get good things in life. And you are undoubtedly a good person. It's wonderful to find that people like you that give me hope for the future.
I wish the PayPal donation button is On, I would love to donate.
Wish your wife a speedy recovery.
God bless you and bless everyone who made it happen.
Good Luck.
Moody.
P.S. Any chance for a recovery vacation for you and your wife??
Just put the PayPal donation button.
was on someone else's blog reading about your story and I wanted to donate. Then I came to this page and tears welled in my eyes. This story has given me so much. I wish you and your family all the love and I am sending love to you and your wife as well.
lovejoy
You can say "beautifulsummermorning.com"
I'm sorry for not answering all the comments. I'm thankful for all of them.
Wow, what a terrific story! It's so nice to hear about the good stuff for a change.
Warmly,
Connie
[...] biggest act of blogger kindness I have seen has to be for RT Cunningham. To make the story short, he needed help with money due to illness of his wife. He reached out to [...]
Great article, I am impressed here.
Wow, this was a great story. A story like this can chanfe some one for ever