CARE AND SUPPORT

To Everyone Who Has Reached Out: Thank You for Seeing Us

A quiet dawn, a woman I love, and the kindness of strangers who refuse to let us face this alone

“Carol at dawn, the moment that reminds me why I’m fighting for her smile.” Image created by the author with imagery descriptions, with the help of Co-pilot AI

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There’s a moment I keep returning to.

Early morning, even before the outside world has had a chance to herald in its first birdsong. Carol’s already stood there by the kitchen window, dressed in a white T-shirt and faded blue jeans, the pair that had been washed so many times they embodied a kind of softness you could never buy. The kettle was quietly boiling away behind her. The light remained thin, gently giving way to wispy clouds interspersed with a soft blueness, the kind that forgives everything it touches.

Suddenly, I quietly call out from the doorway as I come to join her. She smiles at me, or tries to, the twinkle in her eyes, saying more than any smile could ever manage. Her smile is small and careful. That kind of smile someone gives when they’re trying not to show that they are hurting physically and emotionally, equally within themselves.

But her eyes remain just as they have always been since the day we first met many years ago; warm, radiant, loving.

And in that quiet, ordinary everyday moment, steam rises from the kettle as it clicks off, the birdsong begins, the day not yet demanding anything of us; I remember exactly why I’m fighting so hard for her.

Because she has spent years holding me together. Because she has carried more than anyone ever saw. Because even in her own pain, she still tries to make the world softer for everyone else.

Because she deserves to smile without flinching from the pain, agonising pain caused by untold years of neglect and physical abuse from the community that had once been her home, and the emotional turmoil of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) that resulted, long before we met one another.

Lu Skerdoo, seen below, kindly chose to read my original true story about my wife’s troubled journey, and showed true human compassion by responding to me, saying these heartfelt words: “Wow. I wished I could donate to your wife’s current teeth issue, but I only use PayPal. Is there a way you can add that feature?”

[embed]Lu Skerdoo - Medium Read writing from Lu Skerdoo on Medium. Let not your ❤️be troubled. I am Happy to be in the Chicken Soup for the Soul…medium.com

My reply to her?

“Well, Lu, this has all been sorted out under the updates section of GoFundMe, and the link is pinned on my Facebook page too. But just for completeness, here’s that PayPal link.”

It was Lu saying: “I see you. I care. I want to help.”

**https://paypal.me/JonathanTownend890**

**Jonathan Townend, RMN - Editor** (written and published on 8th June 2026)

All donations made through PayPal, Wise, GoFundMe, and Ko-fi payment platforms are 100% forwarded to the specialist dentist's clinic that Carol urgently needs to visit.

That clinic?

**CompleteSmiles Bournemouth**

In case you didn’t manage to catch the original article, published on 12th May, then here it is once more:

[embed]The Cost of a Smile: A Husband’s Plea for the Woman Who Has Carried Me Through Everything A husband’s account of trauma, disability, and the impossible cost of essential dental treatment, and why one woman’s…medium.com

There are moments in life when the world feels unbearably sharp, when disability, trauma, and the cost of simply staying alive cut deeper than they should.

You learn to brace for indifference.

You learn to expect silence.

You learn to carry more than any one person should ever have to.

And then, out of nowhere, someone reaches toward you with gentleness.

When you’ve spent years navigating systems that don’t care whether you sink or swim, that kind of message hits differently. It doesn’t just land; it stays with you.

So yes, I added PayPal. But this isn’t an update. It’s real, and honest gratitude.

The Kindness That Holds Us Together

Living with long‑term disability and trauma teaches a strange kind of vigilance. You learn to scan for danger, for failure, for the next thing that might collapse beneath you.

Lu’s message reminded me that compassion still exists in our world.

That people still reach for one another.

That even in a world that often feels cold, there are pockets of human warmth just waiting to be discovered.

Carol: The Woman Who Has Carried Me Through Everything

If you’ve read our story, you know my wife, Carol Townend, is not just “someone who needs dental treatment.” She is the centre of my world, the person who has held me upright through my own disability, trauma, and the long, grinding years when survival felt like a full‑time job.

She is the kind of woman who:

• apologises for being in pain
• laughs at her own discomfort so others won’t worry
• checks on you even when she’s the one who needs checking on
• carries more than she ever admits
• still believes in kindness, even after everything

She has been my carer, my anchor, my safe place, often at the cost of her own health. Watching her endure years of avoidable dental pain has been devastating. Not because she complains- she rarely does- but because she doesn’t. Because she tries to hide it. Because she thinks she has to be strong for me.

No one should have to choose between pain and poverty.

No one should have to ration their smile.

No one should have to suffer quietly because care is priced out of reach.

Your messages tell her she doesn’t have to be invisible.

Your compassion tells her she is worth helping.

Your kindness tells her she is not alone.

And that matters more than you know.

And if all you can offer is kindness, that is enough. It always has been.

Thank You, From Both of Us

Thank you, Lu. Thank you to everyone who has reached out. Thank you to those who read quietly, those who share, those who send messages, and those who hold us in their thoughts.

You remind us that even in the hardest seasons, there is still gentleness in the world. And that gentleness is carrying us more than you realise.

[embed]Jonathan Townend, RMN - Editor - Medium Read writing from Jonathan Townend, RMN - Editor on Medium. Psychiatric Nurse Writer. Owner of Creative Passions, The…medium.com