Help Aga and Zosia hit the play button on life

When a child is diagnosed with leukemia, her mother is stricken with a parallel condition. It is not acknowledged by name but can be characterized by a renewable surge of stress that must be transformed into optimism and strength. Her life looks a little like this: she drops her career and takes a crash course in medicine, acquiring countless practical hours in nursing without the aid of supervision. She learns how to function without sleep while managing a demanding household of two children, one husband (and two pets). She is a shoulder to everyone when her shoulders ache. She is a caretaker to all while her health breaks down. She is an inspiration to anyone who cares to witness her resolve, her humor, her steadfastness, her boundless love, her creativity.

What she can do, she does: write a book documenting every lull, low and triumph of her daughter’s engagement with the “bad soldiers”; make art in the crevices of time and space allowed; formalize plans for a survival kit for “onco-parents” who without warning will have their lives upturned as hers was and will look everywhere for sustenance. And here we are, asking for this sustenance—again—as if it were a renewable source.

The facts: in February of 2022, my wife hit the pause button on her life to take the reins in our daughter Zosia’s battle against leukemia. She had to resign from her position as art teacher and stall any business plans after our move from Poland to Italy. Without residency in our new country, she has not been able to claim benefits for mothers in her situation, including a monthly allowance of $600 for Zosia’s health care costs and her own long-term unemployment.

With heads bowed, we are turning to our community of loved ones for help in providing this support. The total we are seeking represents one year of benefits and will go directly towards my wife’s efforts to restart her career as artist, author, teacher, and any other title she desires. Super-mamma is already reserved.

All donations will be met with a personalized artwork from my wife as a sign of our eternal gratitude and the cyclical nature of giving and receiving and giving.