CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Scores of folks turned up in a Chesterfield neighborhood Saturday night to bring Christmas early to a Central Virginia woman who only has weeks to live, according to her family.
"We're not even to Thanksgiving, and people are out here," Rita Monteiro, who organized the gathering so her friend, Tracy Demeyer, could still celebrate her favorite holiday. "So at the beginning of the day, you've got to believe that it's going to happen."
The mother and wife was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease several years ago.
"She has ALS, and it's very hard, because the disease challenges every part of your body," Monteiro said. "And what it hasn't touched is her spirit. So with that in mind, we knew that we had to do this."
Determined not to let this disease rob her friend of the special day, the community rallied to bring her an early Christmas.
"She wanted to make sure she could see Christmas. A holiday I can’t imagine her not seeing," Monteiro said. "You can’t give somebody that’s sick or dying a gift, you can’t take it with you, but what you can take with you, the love that you feel in your heart, the community, knowing how embraced you are."
Knowing her love for all things festive, especially Christmas caroling, Demeyer's friends and family invited the community to sing with them outside her home.
"Anything for Tracy, honestly, if this could bring her joy, then absolutely," Monteiro said."Next week being Thanksgiving, and if she's only got a couple of weeks, then now is the time I pray that she carries the love that she felt tonight every day that she has."
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