Neighbors reach out, renovate after tragedy
By JIM BUTTS - jbutts@nwherald.com
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| Mel Ames, left, and Brian Larsen install kitchen lighting for their friend and neighbor Holly Richardson. (Travis Haughton photo) |
Amid a tragedy, Holly Richard says she’s been struck by an incredible act of kindness.
Richard’s longtime boyfriend, John Wett Jr., suffered a massive heart attack Jan. 19 that left him with only basic brain stem function.
With little to no hope of recovery, Wett’s family eventually made the difficult decision to remove Wett, 46, from life support. Wett survived 23 days without food or water before he died Feb. 22.
The days after Wett’s heart attack were impossibly difficult for Richard, 50, as she waited for the man she had loved for 10 years to die. Amid the pain, a group of Holly’s neighbors wanted to know what they could do to help. They since have taken over a project that John left unfinished: completely renovating the interior of Wett and Richard’s Crystal Lake home.
“We’re so grateful for the help of all these wonderful people,” Richard said. “It’s our Crystal Lake version of ‘Extreme Home Makeover.’ ”
At Richard’s home recently, neighbors Mel Ames and Brian Larsen worked on the wiring of light fixtures in the kitchen, with newly installed cabinets in the background.
Ames said he learned of Wett’s heart attack after calling to invite the couple to come over to watch a football game. After learning of the situation, he immediately asked whether there was anything he could do to help, and Richard mentioned the unfinished remodeling.
“As soon as she said that, we said, ‘Let’s spend some time over here to give them a hand with their kitchen,’ ” Ames said.
It doesn’t hurt, Ames said, that he’s an electrician, Larsen’s a carpenter, and another neighbor down the road, Jim McGoon, is a plumber. Other neighbors, including Kevin Tank and Chris Huber, also have pitched in.
As they tangled with wires in the ceiling, Ames and Larsen both seemed to think that the renovation work was no big deal.
But Richard said she had been astounded by the support. The remodeling has been no small job – the kitchen and living room both needed a lot of work.
But the job has turned into a neighborhood project. On one recent day, when Richard left for the hospital in the morning, she had one neighbor working at her home. When she returned, she found that five or six men had turned her house into a quasi-construction zone.
Richard said she couldn’t afford to pay her neighbors, some of whom she barely knew before Wett’s heart attack.
But somehow she wanted to thank the men for the surprise charity, and recently she wrote a letter to the Northwest Herald expressing her gratitude.
“In a time when our world is filled with horror stories, I hope you will find it in your heart to tell this story,” Richard wrote. “This is a story of extreme kindness, love, and a story of hope. Unselfish, caring people do exist.
“Their motive and drive is pure and simple,” she continued. “Help thy fellow neighbor. I don’t think you find this anywhere. I don’t think this kind of commitment is very common. We found this in our neighborhood in Crystal Lake, Illinois, and this is something that will be in my heart until the day I die.”
