A 22-year-old Ford van might not seem like much to most people, but to Sherry and Michael DiMaggio, it meant an income.
Sherry DiMaggio has multiple sclerosis and is unable to work a traditional job. Husband Michael DiMaggio lost the use of his legs after undergoing back surgery a few years ago and had to give up his job as a casino engineer.
The family turned to making food deliveries to try to make ends meet, with Sherry and their teenage daughter, Isabella, teaming in the venture.
“I don’t just take care of him, he takes care of me — teamwork,” Sherry DiMaggio said.
Despite health and financial hardships, and a punishing pandemic, the DiMaggios strike a resilient tone — broken, they say, but not defeated.
That’s even after their livelihood came crashing down May 1 when Isabella walked outside their west Las Vegas apartment complex to see their 1999 Ford Econoline custom van — which is retrofitted with a wheelchair lift — gone.
“Here we go again,” Michael DiMaggio remembers telling his wife and daughter. “I just wish everything would just stop happening … (we) try to make the best of the situation, but it sure sucks, man.”
The family said their insurance company considered the van a loss and issued a check for $1,500 — a significant devaluation from the $9,000 they paid for the vehicle in 2019, Michael DiMaggio said. Because the family had no source of income while the van was missing, most of the insurance money they received went toward groceries and bills.
About a month after the van was stolen, police recovered it. But it was damaged, and to get it running again the DiMaggios must pay about $1,600 for repairs — money they don’t have. They’ve since raised about $800 with an online fundraiser, but “when it comes down to asking for help, I think my pride gets in the way,” Michael DiMaggio, 62, said.
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The couple, who have been married 20 years, met in San Diego. They never struggled financially until the physical ailments shattered their normal, happy lives.
“We didn’t grow up struggling like this. It’s the circumstances, and bad things happen to good people,” Sherry DiMaggio said.
She had been working since she was a teenager, while her husband got a union construction job out of high school. He worked for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and ultimately got a coveted job with Cannery in 2004, where he was promoted as a supervisor in the paint department, he said.
Sherry was waitressing at an Outback Steakhouse, which she remembers fondly, when one day she noticed that one of her arms was locking up, her brain telling it to move, but the limb not responding. She tried to scream but couldn’t.
She had suffered a stroke and was rushed to the hospital. Soon after, she started receiving disability benefits.
Sherry DiMaggio’s body can’t regulate her temperature. So, being outside and using public transportation, particularly during scorching summer temperatures, make her feel like she’s “cooking.” She said that her illness has gotten progressively worse and that she knows “I’m gonna die from it.”
“You know what sucks?” she said. “I want to live. I don’t want to (just) get by anymore. Getting by is the thing you cry about at night. Living is the thing you get excited about ... and it’s been tough.”
She added, “We get tired, but we are like, ‘Come on guys, we need to work together.’ ”
There are wants and needs in economic crises, Sherry DiMaggio said.
“There’s a lot of things that you need that you can’t get, (and) a lot of things that you would like that you definitely can’t get.”
Simple items like makeup, hair products and manicures have been out of the question for years now, she said. She said she used to be able to tell Isabella to “go to the mall with your friends, here’s some money, have fun, we love you.”
Yet, despite the bad hand destiny has dealt the DiMaggios, they find reasons to give thanks.
Sherry DiMaggio said she’s grateful for their daughter, who helps so much; her husband, who is her best friend; and Jax, her large king shepherd service dog, who eases her anxiety and catches her when she suffers seizures.
“I’m grateful that we’ve had this nice place to live, but it hasn’t been without a cost,” she said.
Asked to explain the family’s hardship to someone who doesn’t understand, she said: “I think people just need to consider themselves lucky that they can wake up and not have to worry about how they’re going to eat.”
She said the family would be grateful for any help they can get, and if they can’t, “God bless you for taking a second to hear our story.”
In the end, Sherry DiMaggio knows that they will figure it out like they always have.
“I’m a silver-linings person,” she said. “We’ll be OK.”
Anyone who would like to help the DiMaggios to recover their van and for other expenses can visit here.