Sandra Gonzalez- Stand Up to Cancer
Donation protected
Every day there are touching requests for donations to many worthy and beautiful causes. I always want to contribute but I can’t participate in every fundraiser. It is with this in mind that I am nevertheless hoping that anyone reading this will help my dear friend, Sandra Noemi Gonzalez, to raise much needed funds to cope with the overwhelming financial burden she is facing in dealing with a recent mastectomy, radiation, and chemo, as well as a now mandatory knee replacement so she can walk again. But first some background.
When my husband, Steven, and I were raising our children in Los Angeles, we met Sandra through her sister, Ana Lily, who ultimately worked with us for the better part of ten years starting around the beginning of 1984. Lily, who spoke excellent English (Lily and Sandra are Guatemalan) and commuted an hour each way, every day to get to our house, became the one person Steven and I could implicitly trust with the children and everything else. She was there when I had auditions, took limited film and TV jobs, left the house to write in the afternoons, or just needed time to myself. Sandra, who spoke virtually no English and knew nothing of life in the US, arrived in LA in 1986 with no place to live. Timing is everything, right? She arrived at almost exactly the same time I was hired to work as a regular on a weekly TV show, which meant that we needed to cover the hours before Lily arrived and after Lily left each day. Luckily, we had an extra room in our house so we were able to solve both where Sandra would live and how I could take the job without worry. The bonuses were that I would learn Spanish in order to communicate with Sandra without Lily there, she would be with her sister 9-5, Monday through Friday, and Sandra would begin to learn English and American life. Though that TV job only lasted one year, Sandra stayed with us another year after that. She was a wonderful presence to have with us and since we didn’t have any grandparents nearby, she and Lily, both such incredibly loving people, became de facto grandparents/nannies. Needless to say, both Lily and Sandra are a huge, loving, and significant part of our children’s upbringing. Joyfully, years and years later, and although they had moved to Florida before Steven and I left LA for our adventure in New Jersey where we still live (Yes! An adventure in NJ!), we stayed connected and both women attended Woody's and Billy’s weddings.
Over time, both sisters became naturalized US citizens, Sandra’s English has become infinitely stronger (as my Spanish has gotten worse since I don’t have occasion to use it anymore), and in the span of 16 years in Florida, they were able to bring their parents and children to the US. When both women came to the States, like so many others seeking a better life, they had to leave children behind in Guatemala. Inconceivable to most of us, leaving their children with their family in Guatemala was the only way they could earn enough money to help pay for all their family needed to survive. They were always incredibly dutiful about sending money home each week. My respect for the sacrifices they made has only grown over the years. The loving-kindness shown to our children was a testament to the deep love they had for their own children and parents.
After moving to Homestead, Sandra took a job at the local Wal-Mart where she worked for 16 years until this past October when she could no longer handle the physical requirements of the job. Both of her knees cause her immense, continuous pain but she had put off knee replacement surgeries because she couldn’t afford to take the time off and couldn’t afford the surgeries. Finally, however, she knew that she had to reclaim her life in order to walk again. She booked surgery on the right knee months ago and is having it replaced in a week. But, as we all learn too often, life throws us unexpected curveballs. This past February, after a routine mammogram, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and immediately underwent a mastectomy. After a few weeks of healing, she was told to start radiation right away but has decided to put it off until after the right knee replacement is performed because she will lose her health insurance (through Wal-Mart) in October and was told she would have to wait too many months following the radiation treatments before the doctor could safely perform replacement surgery. Inexplicably, she has been denied disability insurance (she is going to apply again but there is staggering unfairness in that process) and has been falling behind on regular life expenses. She is looking toward the co-pays for both the mastectomy and knee surgery wondering how she will ever be able to dig out of those many thousands of dollars in debts. And she will have to have chemo (in pill form) for the next five to ten years.
Sandra, who has lived in this country for over 30 years, is now 60 years old. Her life has been hard but she doesn’t complain about her circumstances. She is extremely proud but accepts that she needs a financial assist. When I asked her to sum up her situation so I could create this fundraiser, she said, “Now with the help of God, I am fighting a strong battle against cancer motivated by the love of my loved ones and also the loss of my father a year ago that cancer (liver) also invaded. Today I turn to face life with his angels. I am appealing to the kindness of your hearts to help me with my fight. I am praying to our celestial father to give me the hope of life, and I also hope He touches the hearts of people who have gone through the similar problems. I am asking humbly for your help so that I can keep fighting this terrible disease and one day be able to say that I won this battle with the help of all of you. One of the most important things in life is to be with the people we love and I know that when we get together in the same fight, the struggle becomes a victory.” She ended her statement with the words, “…to every woman out there, get your checkups, and take the necessary tests to detect breast cancer early. A million thanks and blessings from your friend, Sandra Gonzalez.” Our dear Sandra.
We’ll start with a modest goal of $1500 and hopefully, keep raising it. Every dollar will help. Any amount you can donate will be deeply appreciated.
When my husband, Steven, and I were raising our children in Los Angeles, we met Sandra through her sister, Ana Lily, who ultimately worked with us for the better part of ten years starting around the beginning of 1984. Lily, who spoke excellent English (Lily and Sandra are Guatemalan) and commuted an hour each way, every day to get to our house, became the one person Steven and I could implicitly trust with the children and everything else. She was there when I had auditions, took limited film and TV jobs, left the house to write in the afternoons, or just needed time to myself. Sandra, who spoke virtually no English and knew nothing of life in the US, arrived in LA in 1986 with no place to live. Timing is everything, right? She arrived at almost exactly the same time I was hired to work as a regular on a weekly TV show, which meant that we needed to cover the hours before Lily arrived and after Lily left each day. Luckily, we had an extra room in our house so we were able to solve both where Sandra would live and how I could take the job without worry. The bonuses were that I would learn Spanish in order to communicate with Sandra without Lily there, she would be with her sister 9-5, Monday through Friday, and Sandra would begin to learn English and American life. Though that TV job only lasted one year, Sandra stayed with us another year after that. She was a wonderful presence to have with us and since we didn’t have any grandparents nearby, she and Lily, both such incredibly loving people, became de facto grandparents/nannies. Needless to say, both Lily and Sandra are a huge, loving, and significant part of our children’s upbringing. Joyfully, years and years later, and although they had moved to Florida before Steven and I left LA for our adventure in New Jersey where we still live (Yes! An adventure in NJ!), we stayed connected and both women attended Woody's and Billy’s weddings.
Over time, both sisters became naturalized US citizens, Sandra’s English has become infinitely stronger (as my Spanish has gotten worse since I don’t have occasion to use it anymore), and in the span of 16 years in Florida, they were able to bring their parents and children to the US. When both women came to the States, like so many others seeking a better life, they had to leave children behind in Guatemala. Inconceivable to most of us, leaving their children with their family in Guatemala was the only way they could earn enough money to help pay for all their family needed to survive. They were always incredibly dutiful about sending money home each week. My respect for the sacrifices they made has only grown over the years. The loving-kindness shown to our children was a testament to the deep love they had for their own children and parents.
After moving to Homestead, Sandra took a job at the local Wal-Mart where she worked for 16 years until this past October when she could no longer handle the physical requirements of the job. Both of her knees cause her immense, continuous pain but she had put off knee replacement surgeries because she couldn’t afford to take the time off and couldn’t afford the surgeries. Finally, however, she knew that she had to reclaim her life in order to walk again. She booked surgery on the right knee months ago and is having it replaced in a week. But, as we all learn too often, life throws us unexpected curveballs. This past February, after a routine mammogram, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and immediately underwent a mastectomy. After a few weeks of healing, she was told to start radiation right away but has decided to put it off until after the right knee replacement is performed because she will lose her health insurance (through Wal-Mart) in October and was told she would have to wait too many months following the radiation treatments before the doctor could safely perform replacement surgery. Inexplicably, she has been denied disability insurance (she is going to apply again but there is staggering unfairness in that process) and has been falling behind on regular life expenses. She is looking toward the co-pays for both the mastectomy and knee surgery wondering how she will ever be able to dig out of those many thousands of dollars in debts. And she will have to have chemo (in pill form) for the next five to ten years.
Sandra, who has lived in this country for over 30 years, is now 60 years old. Her life has been hard but she doesn’t complain about her circumstances. She is extremely proud but accepts that she needs a financial assist. When I asked her to sum up her situation so I could create this fundraiser, she said, “Now with the help of God, I am fighting a strong battle against cancer motivated by the love of my loved ones and also the loss of my father a year ago that cancer (liver) also invaded. Today I turn to face life with his angels. I am appealing to the kindness of your hearts to help me with my fight. I am praying to our celestial father to give me the hope of life, and I also hope He touches the hearts of people who have gone through the similar problems. I am asking humbly for your help so that I can keep fighting this terrible disease and one day be able to say that I won this battle with the help of all of you. One of the most important things in life is to be with the people we love and I know that when we get together in the same fight, the struggle becomes a victory.” She ended her statement with the words, “…to every woman out there, get your checkups, and take the necessary tests to detect breast cancer early. A million thanks and blessings from your friend, Sandra Gonzalez.” Our dear Sandra.
We’ll start with a modest goal of $1500 and hopefully, keep raising it. Every dollar will help. Any amount you can donate will be deeply appreciated.
Organizer
Judith Kahan Kampmann
Organizer
Hackettstown, NJ