F R O M B U L GA R I A
with love
WRITTEN BY MEGIN POTTER PHOTOS PROVIDED
When everything you see is through a filter of gratitude, the world is alight with love.
G
rowing up in a small farm in Bulgaria, Dilyana and her sister Tatyana enjoyed simple traditions like decorating the Christmas tree.
After their father’s death, Dilyana came to America as an exchange student to learn and work so she could send money home to help support her family. “They’re very thankful and very happy I’ve made a life here,” said Dilyana. IN THE DARK, FRIENDS ARE FOUND Dilyana Bell began working at Family Vision Care Center in February 2016. Just two months later she was told that Tatyana had received a horrific diagnosis – granular corneal dystrophy. “Words were grey speckles on white paper. Reading was like a yearning for something long gone,” described Tatyana. In a year, her vision would be so bad she’d have to quit her job as an engineer and would be unable to care for the family she had hoped to have one day. Coworker and friend Jennifer Grassi accompanied Dilyana on a short trip to Bulgaria where she met Tatyana and instantly sympathized with her predicament. When Grassi returned, she instantly – and incessantly – strived to help. “Of course, I’d do anything for my friends,” said Grassi. “I saw how passionate Jen was and started the ball rolling,” said Susan Halstead, owner of Family Vision Care Center. To regain her eyesight, Tatyana would need a $30,000 cornea transplant surgery in America. It seemed an unreachable goal but Grassi started a Go Fund Me campaign, Halstead reached out to her friends and business contacts, and they organized a fundraiser. “As a business owner, in my role in the community, I’m used to being asked for things – but this time I was asking others to help us and every single ask was met with the utmost generosity,” said Halstead.
16 | SARATOGA BRIDE | FALL/WINTER 2018
saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com