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HUGE Heart Home Makeover: Cleveland Edition
6 Aug, 2008 LM Direct!In the past couple of months, Landscape Management Editor-in-Chief Marty Whitford has been telling readers about his good friend Adam Gaspar, who was diagnosed with a deadly brain tumor several months ago. (Read Marty's columns from April 2008 and May 2008). Marty would like to pass along this notice of efforts being made to help Adam’s family in this time of need:
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These photos (above and below) are from March 7, when Adam and Ann Gaspar knocked item No. 1 off their Bucket Lists by renewing their vows on their 20th anniversary. All photos were taken by Marianne Mangan, www.mariannemangan.com, except the Dad Prom photo, which was taken by Ann Gaspar. |
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FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio — Adam Gaspar stands 6-foot-eight, but his heart is even bigger.
Over the past two decades, Adam has helped nearly a dozen other local families renovate their homes free of charge. Adam doesn’t regret for a moment his lifetime spent putting others first but he is, understandably so, a little worried for his close-knit clan these days.
Just a few days after last Thanksgiving, Adam was given a death sentence. A doctor informed the now 42-year-old father of six ages 21 to 11 that he has a glioblastoma multiforme grade IV brain tumor. The doctor gave Adam six to 12 months to live, and that was with brain surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
This Old House
“I always enjoyed helping others work on their homes. It just never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t have the time to work on our house. I guess it’s another case of the cobbler’s kids having no shoes,” Adam said, sadly surveying his home in grave disrepair.
The Gaspar house:
- Is Extremely Cramped: Upon moving into the 80-year-old, three-bedroom house 14 years ago, Adam and Ann, his wife of 20 years, halved the size of their bedroom to create another nook for their children to sleep. Living and storage space are major issues.
- Needs a Kitchen Renovation: The kitchen serves as the primary entry way to/from the house, but has stained, ripped rubber flooring; limited, outdated cabinets; an unfinished ceiling; and severely nicked-up walls and countertops. By the way, this family of eight currently washes dishes by hand.
- Lacks Curb Appeal: The outside needs vinyl siding (with insulation), and new gutters and windows. The Gaspars just had their home reroofed because there were leaks all over the upstairs bedrooms.
- Garage & Grandmother’s Suite: The garage is a complete knockdown/rebuild job.
In the back of the property sits a small one-bedroom “grandmother’s suite,” where their 21-year-old lives. That too is a major remodel project if not a knockdown/rebuild.
- Under Construction: Much of the house is in need of new molding, carpeting, drywall, paint ... you name it. From the floor to the ceiling, each room is crying for a HUGE Heart Home Makeover. A major inside-and-outside overhaul is what the doctor’s ordering.
Extreme Makeover Finalist
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The Gaspar family |
In March, a friend of Adam’s and a co-worker of Ann’s tag teamed to nominate the family for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EMHE). Quintin Strack, EMHE Casting Director, said Ohioans submitted more than 4,000 applications to EMHE. After several rounds of cuts, EMHE selected 25 Ohio finalists for personal visits. Just ½ of 1 percent of the Ohio applicants made the cut, but the Gaspars were among them.
After braving brain surgery and a rigorous chemotherapy and radiation regimen, Adam underwent his first MRI of the year early in the morning, April 21. When Adam and Ann returned that day from Metro Health Medical Center, where Ann works as a labor-and-delivery nurse, the couple was greeted by Strack and an EMHE camera man, both eager to capture the Gaspar’s heroic story on film.
The EMHE visit was no surprise. EMHE had called a week earlier and asked the Gaspars to all be home that morning. Nick, 21, took off work, and the other Gaspar children (Monika, 18, Juli and Gabi, 14, Emily, 12, and Adam Jr., 11) skipped school that day.
The big surprise came a few days before EMHE’s visit, when Monika was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). The weekend before EMHE visited, Adam watched from his sickbed as his eldest daughter, preparing to graduate from Magnificat High School, sat rigged to IVs.
“God never gives you more than you can handle. I guess he thinks we’re strong,” Ann said.
Helping Hands Now Need Local Help
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This spring, Adam left his sick bed to dance with his eldest daughter, 18-year-old Monika, at Magnificat High School’s Dad Prom. Monika was diagnosed with MS just a few days before an oncologist gave her dad one to four weeks to live on April 23. |
On July 9, EMHE’s Ty Pennington gave his wonderful bullhorn wake-up call to another of the Ohio finalists, the Akers family located in West Chester, a suburb of Cincinnati.
“Your story still warms my heart and I think of Adam and all of you often,” EMHE’s Strack wrote in a July 22 email to Ann. “I know you are waiting for an answer so you can make some big decisions and move forward. After building for the Akers in Cincinnati, the possibility of coming back to Ohio doesn’t look great.
“I know you have incredible friends and family who are lining up and waiting to be of assistance to your family and Adam,” Strack said. “If they’d like to make arrangements to fix your home on their own, I would encourage them to take matters into their own hands and no longer wait for us. Best wishes to you all and my prayers to Adam. I thank you for sharing your story with us, inviting us into your home and letting us be part of your family for that wonderful day.”
Marty Whitford, who helped nominate the Gaspars for EMHE, has been Adam’s friend since first grade and is godfather of Monika and Gabi, is organizing HUGE Heart Home Makeover to help make Adam’s last wish come true.
“It would really mean the world to me if somehow, some way, we could lift this huge burden, the disrepair of our home, off Ann’s shoulders,” Adam said. “She’ll have enough to handle with five of our six children still in school.”
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Marty Whitford, Adam’s longtime friend and godfather of Monika and Gabi Gaspar, is organizing the Gaspar home makeover. Here Whitford is pictured helping his buddy tie his tie just before the couple’s recent vows renewal at St. Mary’s Chapel at St. Ignatius High School. |
Gaspar Makeover
HUGE Heart Home Makeover seeks commitments of time, talents and materials to make over the Gaspar house and yard. Donations to the cause are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Please call Marty Whitford at 440-823-7194 or email mfwhitford@aol.com today for more information on how you can help. Please write checks to St. Angela Merici Church and send the donations to:
St. Angela Merici Church
C/O Gaspar Makeover
Please note this on bottom left of check)
20970 Lorain Road
Fairview Park, OH 44126
“Ann and Adam have been off work since Thanksgiving,” Whitford said. “We’re looking for help from local builders, contractors, painters, landscapers, and any Average Joe who has time or monies to pitch in to our HUGE Heart Home Makeover. Let’s show everyone just how big Cleveland’s heart is. Let’s give the Gaspars a home that’s level with the ones their dear dad spent a lifetime helping build.”
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