Skolnick

Back in 1991, my mother went to work even though she wasn't feeling very well, because she didn't have any sick days left.

We went to the ER, but there was nothing they could do. She didn't have anything that they could find without tests we couldn't afford.

Another week passed. She couldn't miss work, even though she didn't get better. Self medicated with cold medicine. Kept working.

In additon to her job as a teacher, she worked at Ann & Hope, a store in Warwick, RI near where we lived. Worked every night that month

We didn't go to the doctor because we didn't have the five to six thousand dollars the tests and visit would cost us. More cold medication.

March 12 of that year, I woke up on the couch. My mom was sitting in the love seat, facing the TV. It was on. She was rigid, not blinking

That was because she was dead. She was 42 years old. She died of a lung infection that would have been treatable, if we'd had the money.