It was a regular, simple engagement party not long ago. The siblings gathered around the chassan and kallah. Everyone smiled and was happy. But underneath it all was the elephant in the room: Mommy.
“Mommy,” or Mrs. Ayala Gutman, has been fighting cancer for a staggering 12 years. Recently, however, things have gotten much worse. The cancer has reached her brain. She has lost the ability to walk or speak. It has begun to take away what she treasures most – her memories. Now the doctors have told her that her condition is terminal.
Though Mr. & Mrs. Gutman are ecstatic for their son Yoni’s engagement, they are pained to know that they are unable to help him set up a home. Mrs. Gutman knows that she is leaving behind a mountain of medical debt to her husband and children, who have no realistic way to recover from it. And it goes against what a mother wants most: To take care of her family.
Mrs. Gutman is now raising money so that she can give her children a debt-free life after her passing. We may not be able to save her life, but we can give her peace of mind during her final days, knowing that her children will not suffer more than they need when she is gone. It is something we can all hope others would do for us if we were in the same position.
