jayeff

If your intent in all your posts on this topic is not to imply that this has all been a scam, you and the others posting along similar lines are either a very sad people or else need to get a clue about when sig whoring is not appropriate (which I guess would make you pretty sad people too).

I wonder if you have the slightest concept of what it means to a parent to be told the words "brain tumor"? I was only a step-parent when I heard those words, but the impact was greater than anything anyone could have said about me.

And here's another thing: none of us have a crystal ball to see into the future. I made decisions at the time based on my daughter being covered by insurance and having an excellent prognosis. A few months later all that changed and finally my own health took a dive too. Add a few more of life's less humorous twists to the mix and what began as an apparently manageable short-term situation became anything but. Nothing I decided, when I decided it seemed wrong, and yet almost every decision backfired which I made during that period.

That apart, none of you nay-sayers seem to understand that giving does reward the giver: not in some unspecified hereafter, but right here and now. Helping someone out, however you do it and whatever the circumstances makes most people feel good. Try it sometime...

And last, as others have said, what the heck business is it of yours what others choose to do with their money? There is always emotion involved, whether it is the sight of a starving child on TV or the thought of soldiers suffering who have fought for their countries. We each have the sole right to make our own decisions in such matters.