My name is Michael Patrick Fitzgerald. I want it to go on record that Carla was my girlfriend, life partner, lover and the best friend one could ever wish for.

Carla and I met in April of 2007 at an AA meeting at Radford Hall. I had admired her for a year or so prior to meeting her.  Finally, one Friday night I was there with a couple of friends I had met in rehab. A conversation began with Tom, John and Carla after the meeting out back where could smoke. I was out of the conversation until she mentioned she was a graphic artist. (I have been doing graphics for the last 20 years and own a company that specializes in entertainment advertising.)

Immediately we connected and began a conversation about art and painting, and the rest of the people just seemed to fade away.

She expressed interest in what is called a Wacom Tablet. I told her I had one that was not in use that she could borough it if she liked.  She was overwhelmed at my offer. I grabbed the tablet from my office and put it in the back seat of my car in hopes that I might meet her again.

Sure enough, I met her a week later and gave her the tablet. This began a relationship that was to become a destiny that could never have been imagined.

I own several motorcycles and politely asked her if she would like to go riding one day.  Sure enough, she showed up at my home on a Saturday afternoon with her hair pulled back, in full makeup with those big blue eyes and biker boots. I was mesmerized.  We went on a ride though the canyons of Santa Monica to the Malibu coastline and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon.

After about two months of we became the best of friends and then intimate one fateful night, after which we never left each other’s side.

Carla moved in with me and I watched her go through her chronic pain for almost 2 years. We went to so many doctors, hospitals, psych wards and urgent care givers I can’t even number.

Carla was one a never ending quest to find relief.

In August of 2008 she ended up at Saint Mary’s, a division of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.  Their determination was that she was mentally unstable and a substance abuser. They were unsure of what to do with her so they decided to commit her for 6 months to Saint Peter’s, another mental hospital, against her will.

At this point I decided to become her champion and flew back to Minnesota to plead her case and ultimate freedom from the court system. With the unyielding support of her mom we went to court to fight her case. We ultimately won and she was released the following Friday to the care of her mom Colleen.

She spent one night at home and then traveled to Iowa where she had a MRI that revealed her the cause of her pain.

She had several metal staples and zippers in her chest that were incorporated when she had a huge tumor removed from behind her heart when was 15 at the Mayo Clinic. It was somewhat of a landmark surgery according to Carla.