Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
An Open Letter To Barry Manilow: Please Help My Mom

An Open Letter To Barry Manilow: Please Help My Mom

Last updated on: October 17, 2017 at 10:34 pm by Tom Swiss

An Open Letter To Barry Manilow: Please Help My Mom 2017-10-17T22:34:43-04:00 Tom Swiss

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dear Mr. Manilow,

The last thing my father did in his life was take my mother to see your September 16th show at the Turning Stone Casino.

They were celebrating her survival and recovery. Last September, Mom fell critically ill. She was not expected to survive, but she fought her way back to life, spent weeks in the ICU and months in rehabilitation, and came home on January 6th — my father’s birthday. (We played your music for her while she was comatose.)

Mom has been a fan of yours since the 1980s. She’s been a member of several fan clubs, seen you more times than we could count. She’s met you in person a few times, though I’m sure you don’t remember her specifically. (Though, I don’t know. Maybe the name “Suzanne Swiss” did stick with you somehow.)

When Dad found out that you were playing a show so close to the anniversary of her illness and her survival, he immediately made plans to get tickets.

They were overdue for a good time together. It wasn’t just Mom’s illness, or the fact that Dad had been in and out of the hospital several times as well. Things had been rough for the past few years.

Dad’s health issues, which partly resulted from his military service in Vietnam, had reduced his ability to work and just about destroyed the family finances. Mom’s own ability to work had been restricted by an serious injury she suffered while working as a nurse in the early 1990s. But after going through bankruptcy and being forced into retirement, Dad had started to get disability payments from the VA and was starting to see some light, financially.

So he splurged on the tickets and a hotel room, and new tires for the car for the drive.

And they had a wonderful weekend together.

Mr. Manilow, thank you for that. Your music gave my parents a final happy time together.

On the drive home, Dad mentioned he was feeling tired. He and Mom both slept in the next day. But when he wouldn’t get out of bed by the afternoon, Mom was worried. She remembered how he’d had double pneumonia back in January but didn’t want to go to the hospital. She told him if he didn’t get up, she was going to call the paramedics.

He sat up for a minute and made a few jokes, but slipped back asleep.

By the time the paramedics got there, he was gone.

* * * * *

Dad had been through bankruptcy a few years ago. There are no assets, no savings. He had repeatedly taken out loans against the home equity; there’s nothing significant there, as a practical matter the house may even be underwater.

Dad had recently taken out a small life insurance policy to cover his final expenses and at least a few months of Mom’s bills. But that policy will not pay out, because he died too soon after taking it out.

Besides the funeral expenses, Mom has inherited several thousand dollars in debt Dad had taken out in both their names, as he tried to restore his credit post-bankruptcy.

They were getting by on both their Social Security plus Dad’s VA disability, plus a low-paying part-time job of Mom’s. Most of that income is gone now.

Of course I’m going to help as much as I can. But I don’t have thousands in savings to pay those funeral expenses or that debt. I can’t pay the mortgage to keep Mom in her house, and mine too.

(Indeed I had “lent” Dad several thousand dollars over the years, and one of the last conversations we’d had was about how he wanted to start paying that back now that he was getting back on his feet. I sure could have used any repayment, but I kept putting him off.)

* * * * *

Mr. Manilow, you don’t owe my mother anything. Only a fool would claim that an artist, even a highly successful one, owes it to his fans to come to their financial rescue.

But it’s my Mom.

And so I’ll take any chance I can find, including the chance that this might go viral enough on the web for you to see it, and that you might be moved enough to help. Or that perhaps some of Mom’s fellow “Manilow Maniacs” might see it and want to help.

If you do see this, thank you for taking the time to read it. Thank you for the music my mother has enjoyed so much over the years. Thank you for giving them that last weekend together.

I have no right to ask more of you. But I will anyway. Because it’s my Mom.

Mr. Manilow, would you please make a contribution to the GoFundMe I’ve set up for my mother? You could even do so anonymously, so that other fans don’t come knocking.

https://www.gofundme.com/help-miss-sue-pay-mr-marks-funeral

And anyone else who might read this: please. Please. Help my Mom.

Thank you.

Because I Could Not Stop For Death

My Blogging Life and Times

Previous Post

September 25, 2017

A Eulogy For My Father, Mark Swiss

Next Post

October 30, 2017 Samhain: My Father Is Dead

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2017 52 Makeup 2020 52 Makeup Always Roaming With A Hungry Heart Art Because I Could Not Stop For Death Caught On Video COVID-19 Culture Discordianism Ethics, Virtue, and Right Living History Magic(k), Ritual, and Mysticism My Blogging Life and Times Philosophy Podcast Poetry Random Wednesdays Religion & Politics Seasonal Musings Techno-Pagan Theology Uncategorized Warrior Path Zen

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 June 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who opened the first seal to release the White Horse in Revelation?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Lamb (Jesus) The 24 Elders An angel John