I have done donations here at the dope twice before. I am too busy to do it this time or I would offer.
What I did was use my paypal account for online contributions and for the check writers had them send them to my house.
When it came time to pay out the $ I did a paypal transfer to my bank account and deposited the personal checks. I then had a cashiers check cut and FedExed.
All I can say is I hope Santo parents are ready for how dopers give when there is a good cause.
I think we used Google initially with our Wildblue mail account - they are affiliated w/ Gmail I think. I looked at it again and it seems that some improvements have been made.
After that we used Cozi (I think) and now we are using Outlook. I think we will revisit Google and see how some of the updates may benefit us.
Thanks for the input!
Aww. I felt so sad seeing Pat with his cane. He had surgery near the Memorial Day holiday. He was in so much pain. I remember going in a few times a day to put rolled up towels under his heel to help stretch his leg. He hated it. But I think he secretly like being babied for a short time, then was ready to go back home. He was always so independent.
I’m glad you got to spend time with him. He is one of a kind, that’s for sure!
My “smart” phone has been acting rather stupid the past month. It stopped syncing to the server at my work. Yesterday Verizon “helped” me perform a Master reset. This means that my phone has been set back to factory defaults. Now it is just a phone without contacts. I am way too dependent on technology as I am virtually lost without the contact info.
Sorry for the cut and paste folks. Trying to get back to Santo so we can watch the game. Pat settled in for the night. Caregiver asked Pat if he wanted to watch TV. I told Pat about the game between the Lions and the Patriots, how the Lions were beating the Patriots 17-3 and the Lions having such a ferocious pass rush on Brady. I told Pat about #90 of the Lions and what a beast he is. Pat, he is just trying to be like you. Do you remember when you were a presence on the rugby pitch? No hesitation with thumbs up. You were also an enforcer Pat. Do you remember the time you got in trouble for helping your teammate out when he got in a fight on the pitch? That was the time the guy turned on you and bit you on the head? It’s ok Pat. Everybody that knows Pat Garcia knows something drastic had to have happened for you to fight. Two fast eye blinks on that response. How awesome is that. Hey, best of all, after the rugby match was over, I saw Pat apologize to the ref for his behavior. Now, that IS Pat Garcia.
What a great way to wind down for the night. Thanks, Pat, I love man.
That is so amazing. He sounds like a true sportsman. Does he have a scar from this biting incident…I think we need to know more 
Keep getting better Pat!
I have literally no idea how to set something like this up, but just wanted to say that I’d gladly contribute if someone does.
Yes he does have a scar; you can see it when his head is shaved. Along with the scar from stitches he got when he was three while roller skating in the kitchen!
Pat was always such a gentleman. Once during club wrestling when he was in high school, a boy who was only 10 years old but weighed 170 pounds had to wrestle in Pat’s division. I felt so bad for the boy, because he lost every match by being pinned immediately and always cried afterwards. He was so much younger than the other kids in that weight class. Pat wrestled him for quite a while and eventually pinned him. The little boy cried and cried. From across the gym, I saw this very large man go towards Pat with the little boy. I really couldn’t believe that the father was going to tell Pat off for pinnng his son. Afterwards when I asked Pat what happened, he said that the man thanked him for letting his son wrestle and for giving him a chance to practice his skills before pinning him. One of my many proud moments.
That’s a lovely story, SRM.
StG
Wonderful story!
Happy Thanksgiving to SantoFam.
I wasn’t active when this thread was started, nor did I interact with Santo on this board. But I just spent a very emotional hour reading through this thread’s entirety, and it was a wonderful Thanksgiving gift. At the very least, it reaffirmed for me what a special place this board can be.
Bless you, SantoMom. Bless you, SantoDad. May this holiday season see even more of your son with you.
Thank you for your kind words and for thinking of our family. I have to say that holidays are the absolute hardest for me. It is hard not to think of our son as he was before, so full of life and living it to the fullest. Recovery from a TBI is slow and arduous and there are days that I think we won’t make it through. That said, as Pat improves we are elated by each little step towards his recovery. The support we have received from Patrick’s Straight Dope family has been huge and has helped us more than once to keep it together.
Thank you to all of you and hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
SantoRuggersMom,
How’s Pat doing? How was his Christmas & New Years?
Tripler
Enquiring minds wanna know. 
I hope 2012 is a year of progress for Pat! I actually think of him fairly frequently, most often in the morning when I’m in the shower. Tell him a naked woman is thinking of him; that should make him smile! Best wishes to the whole family.
The holidays are always a reminder of how much we miss Pat’s vivacious personality. That said, we tried really hard this year to enjoy as many of past Christmas rituals as we could. We watched sappy Christmas movies, drank eggnog while decorating the tree, played Christmas music, opened our gifts and our stockings all on schedule. We also enjoyed tamales which I know were always a big hit with Santo. I always bought extra (homemade by my great neighbor!) and sent home a few dozen for him. It hurts that he’s not able to eat yet (and I don’t think pork and red chili will be healthy choices for him immediately after he starts eating).
But we continue to talk to him about how much he is progressing and how far he has come. His swallowing continues to improve and changes are so subtle sometimes, we almost don’t realize that something has changed. Pat nearly always turns toward us when we approach him; he has a funny look on his face like he’s saying, “What are you doing here?” It seems odd, but I think it is an improvement in his awareness of his surroundings or he is at least trying to figure something out.
It is apparent to me that he listens intently to everything we say. In fact, I suspect that his hearing abilities have become more acute in order to compensate for the other senses that aren’t functioning as well. Unless he is sound asleep, he is awakened by every footstep or voice in the hall at night.
For those of you following the Prayers for Patrick page on Facebook, I posted that he has mastered the art of popping bubblewrap. It has taken him a while to get his thumb and finger placement just right to be able to actually pop them instead of squeezing the air out of them without a sound. He doesn’t give up and keeps trying anything we ask of him until he becomes too fatigued to try anymore.
We look forward to this year and continue our prayers and hopefulness that Santo will continue to progress. In the meantime, thanks for keeping up with our family and Pat’s progress. As SantoRuggersDad says, “We endeavor to persevere.”
Happy New Year!
Woo hoo! That most certainly will interest him!
I’m very glad to hear of his continued progress. Here’s for more this year!
I’m not on the Facebook page, I think… is there anywhere else one can donate money to help with Pat’s recovery/care?
I’ve been researching what it takes to setup a PayPal account and it seems doable. I recently made a donation for someone using my credit card through PayPal and it was very easy. When I get a chance I’ll do a little more reading and let you all know.
Here is the group on facebook - Facebook - log in or sign up
There is also an account at Wells Fargo that was set up for him by a friend when he first became injured. It is simply - Patrick Garcia Donation Account.
And thanks for thinking of Pat. Each day is a struggle for us emotionally, but somedays are just overwhelming. It always helps to know that people are thinking of Pat and hoping for his recovery.