Bottom Line Up Front: I took 8 weeks of FMLA leave and drove thousands of miles to help care for my mother, and the state still has not paid me yet. I'm returning to work next week, but we have several immediate bills due, and debt that I promised to help pay as part of her funeral expenses. We need help to get back on out feet and pay our bills and mortgage, past due fees, and to generally get through the next 2-3 weeks until I get paid again.

Here's some more detail:

The weekend before Mother's Day my mother was playing on the floor with Tommy. A little over a week later we got the news that there was a shadow on an MRI. A week after that she had brain surgery on a tumor they could not fully remove. She declined further treatment, and died less than 3 months later.

I drove 3,341 miles in that time period to go and visit her, help with her care, and make sure she could see her grandsons those last few times. I stayed more than 2 weeks away from my family. I drove almost 300 miles round-trip in one day, once or twice a week. Often with a 4-year-old Peter in the car with me. And it brought a smile to her face every time.

My FMLA leave started on June 23, and is supposed to be covered by the state. These promised funds were the only reason that I could take the time to help with my mother, and they still have not materialized. The process is extremely complicated and outdated, and is still "Pending Medical Certification" despite the hospice company mailing in the forms weeks ago.

Our families have been helping us though the various ups and downs of the last few years, and I feel like we are draining them dry. We've had crisis after crisis and most of them were expensive. Our savings were depleted through medical expenses and wildfire evacuations, and everything is more expensive than it was. And we have just lost one of our greatest sources of support and help.

We are late on everything financial at this point, and we're to the point of putting bills on credit cards and we're late on the mortgage. The car payment is past due, and we owe the registration on both the ones that (mostly) work. I don't know how we will ever catch up, and my credit is tanking because of it. And to top it off, the boys' birthdays are in less than 2 weeks.

Anything. Helps. Thank you if you have read this far, and may you be blessed.

Sincerely,

The Kohn Family

Kate, Jon, Peter, and Thomas