Y'all dear-to-my-soul Wonderful Peoples!
Carmen Ruggero lives about a 15 minute drive  from my home. She truly needs some advice, spiritual (I'm taking care of that, but your prayers are  still welcomed) and financial, possibly legal. Carmen may be the victim of covert discrimination based on age and ethnicity. Please read below, she asked me to post to this. . . and if anyone wants to sponsor her for a gold membership on the den (or a group of people sponsoring her) it's an investment well worth it. . . and will post this as an article for others to read as well to offer their advice.

Her letter, word for word, is below from my private email:

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Hi sis,
 
I need to ask you a favor. I don't have gold membership, just my lifetime basic and consequently can't do group mailings. I need you to send this out for me if you could. Asking for prayers. Thank you in advance. ~~Carmen
 
 
My dear AD friends:
 
I went through a heart procedure back in September. I felt good for a while, but then symptoms returned. I went back to my surgeon and he found my heart to be in perfect condition. Here's what happened: The heart malfunction was caused by stress. (I've been suffering stress for years) They fixed the heart but the stress continues to be a factor and it in turn brought on a very severe depression. All this coupled with the fact that due to stress, I've suffered years of sleep deprivation and that severely affects my mind, and consequently the ability to think and reason.  My employer only looks at mistakes; they don't look at the fact that illness has caused me to make them. So they've given me a performance plan and when I go back to work, if I don't respond to it, I'll be fired. They've worked it out so I wouldn't be fired for being sick, they'd be firing me for making mistakes. See, they have a good plan for reducing stress: They'll push until it kills you and then it's all over.
 
I am under treatment for clinical depression. I've gone beyond the point where a pep-talk and positive thinking are things I can relay on. They help, but the symptoms and their root are physical though they're manifested emotionally. My mind is a blur half the time. I can't think clearly and it is driving me crazy. I am so depressed I can't see tomorrow to save my soul.  I am taking medication and it will help, I'll probably have to follow up with therapy.
 
Your prayers are always welcome. All this to say I probably won't be posting for a while. I'll read and comment as I can. This is not to be taken personally, I'm just too sick. I need to take care of myself.  To show you how poorly my mind is functioning, it's happened lately that many of the poems I comment on I've had to read many times just to understand them; It's taken me over an hour to compose this e-mail. So please, pray for me. I'm a writer loosing control of my mind is killing me.
 
Hugs,
Carmen

Go to the AD search box and type in her name, Carmen Ruggero or click the link below. Thank you. (If you have a gold membership, please send this to your list as well. Thank you!)