Friends help arrange family visit for gravely ill woman

NEWMAN – Thanks to the generosity of friends she has never met, a gravely ill Newman woman this week is savoring the priceless gift of time to spend with family members from the Midwest.

Bonnie Arnel and her husband Charles recently welcomed their daughter Amanda, daughter-in-law Brooke and grandchildren Chase, 2, Mackenzie, 8, and Jordan, 12, for a visit made possible by community members who rallied behind a campaign to bring the family members to California for a final visit.

Bonnie Arnel had not seen her visiting relatives since moving to California from the Midwest five years ago. The joyful Saturday night reunion in the Sacramento airport was also her first meeting with young Chase.

Her friends, Diane Roberts and Renee Kimball, organized the local campaign which raised $1,500 toward airline tickets and activities during the week-long visit. Fund-raisers included a car wash, yard sale and egg roll sale. “We were just overwhelmed by the support of the community,” Roberts said last week.

The Dream Foundation, a national organization which grants dreams to terminally ill adults, provided three tickets.

Saturday evening, when her relatives stepped off the elevator and into the lobby at the airport, Bonnie Arnel’s dream had become a reality.

“They’re here!,” an elated Bonnie Arnel exclaimed Monday. “I’m euphoric right now. I’m worn out, but I’m happy to be worn out. I’m trying to get five years worth of hugs into one week.”

The Arnels were stunned when Roberts visited to break the news that their family members were going to be paying a visit.

“She cried for two days, she was so happy,” Charles recalled.

The week’s itinerary includes a visit to Santa Cruz and hopefully to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, as well as other activities.

Another friend loaned the family the use of a spare vehicle so the group can make the rounds.

Life has not been easy for the Arnels.

Charles Arnel is disabled.

Bonnie Arnel fell fell ill after the couple moved to California. Her heart condition has led to numerous hospital stays over the past three years.

Because of a caring community, however, the Arnels are blessed with a gift that means more than words can describe.

“There are people out there who really care about families,” Amanda Arnel reflected. “They didn’t know us, but this wouldn’t have happened without them.”

“I want the community to know how much it means, but ‘thank you’ isn’t enough,” Bonnie Arnel added. “We are going to make the best of every minute we have.”