Those of you who read my blog know that Motor Man and I love to travel to the Corolla area of the Outer Banks, North Carolina. (Our trips there are on hold for a while right now until his shoulder injury heals.)
I follow several Facebook pages from that area, including, of course, The Corolla Wild Horse Fund, the organization who cares for the wild horses.
Over the past couple of days, I became aware of a community-wide effort to provide an exceptional weekend in Corolla for one very special person.
That person is Melissa Renzi, who is dealing with several issues, including gastroparesis. Melissa is in hospice care for mitochondrial disease and also suffers from dysautonomia fibromyalgia. I contacted Melissa regarding writing this post, and she graciously gave me permission to share all her details in order to bring awareness to these diseases.
Seeing the wild horses of Corolla was on Melissa’s bucket list, and one of her friends has been planning this weekend for her for quite a while. Several businesses in the area worked together to make it a memorable weekend for her.
- Uncle Ike’s Sandbar and Grill and Cosmo’s Pizza provided food.
- Hampton Inn of Corolla gave Melissa and her husband a discounted rate on their room.
- Bob’s Wild Horse Tours treated the Renzis to a ride on the beach.
- And Corolla Wild Horse Fund gave the Renzis a tour of the rescue farm, so Melissa and her husband could meet the horses who live there.
Photo by Jeff Kelly
Reading all these Facebook posts and the comments on them was so heartwarming, I was brought to tears.
BUT, wait, there’s more!
It was discovered that the first Corolla foal of the 2019 season was born THIS past weekend: the same weekend of the Renzi’s visit. So….the folks at Corolla Wild Horse Fund decided on the perfect name for the new baby boy.
His name: RENZI.
Photo by Mike Davenport
The story of Melissa and her special trip has touched so many people in the past few days. It’s heartwarming not only to realize the kindness of all the folks who made this happen, but also to think of all the well wishes, positive thoughts and prayers for her.
All our best to you, Melissa.
~These Days Of Mine~
these days of mine 