Concert for Mimi
A benefit concert to help pay for Mimi's many medical expenses will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Monroe Bible Church, Wis. 69 South in Monroe.
Pam and Larry Young will headline the concert. They have been performing for more than two decades and specialize in original contemporary Christian music.
"The Twilighters" also will perform. A group of talented senior musicians who have many years of musical experience among them, they will be performing a selection of old-time songs and hymns.
Admission is free, but a free-will offering will be taken, with all proceeds going to Mimi and her family. Out-of-pocket expenses include pain medications, physical therapy and high airfare back to Romania due to rescheduling. Make all donations to Mimi's daughter, Adina Ness, P.O. Box 953, New Glarus, WI 53574.
She fell on a slippery floor Aug. 21 and suffered two pelvic fractures, rib fractures and a right shoulder dislocation and separation.
After a two-week hospital stay, Mimi remained in Adina's home, working to regain enough strength and function to return to her homeland. She returned to Romania last week, but an increased dose of pain medication to help through the long trip caused several stomach ulcers.
"She went straight to the hospital and was still there when I left Romania," said Mimi's granddaughter, Ilinca Gentaru, 13, who made the trip with Mimi, speaks English fluently, and was Mimi's translator and main caregiver after her fall.
A group of Adina's friends is planning a benefit concert to help cover medical costs.
"In a way, this concert is a tribute, a celebration of my mom's life and character," Adina said.
Her mother, Mimi, who wants to be known only by her first name, came to the United States to visit Adina, a dental hygienist at Ganshert Dental Clinic, for the summer.
A licensed dentist in Romania, Adina has worked in dental missions in Romanian orphanages since 1994. She came to Meriter Hospital on a dental internship, and met her husband, Richard Ness, during a church service in Madison.
"I went back home to finish school, we got married in Romania, and a year later I moved to the U.S.," Adina said.
Adina, Richard and their two children, Emmanuela, 8, and Gabriel, 4, have lived in Green County for six years. Adina has used her dental skills to help people with dental needs in Dane County and at the newly developed Fowler Memorial Free Dental Clinic in Monroe.
During Mimi's stay, many people came to know and love her for her deep faith, peaceful spirit and wonderful friendly smile, family friend Joe Ganshert said.
"Sometimes we are privileged to meet a very special person who leaves us feeling as if we have been in the presence of ... an angel," he said.
Mimi lived 45 years in the dictatorship of Romania, Adina said.
During her lifetime, Mimi experienced more than her share of hardships though the tribulations of the World War II and the takeover of Romania by communist dictatorship.
"Her enduring spirit has been an inspiration to many. She did not become bitter, resentful or negative," Adina said. "Her peaceful spirit testified that faith and love are the most powerful forces in the world. She has been given in priceless ways to everybody around, love, compassion, faith, gentleness, sensitivity, truthfulness, virtue - all these in spite of poverty, losing family members, (including) her 14-year-old son, due to the dictatorial regime."
- Joe Ganshert contributed to this article.