Even in the days when the American economy was running smoothly, before Mindy Shapiro lost her dream career and then a backup job, her heart was never far from home.
In those days, Ms. Shapiro, 51, would spend her working hours supervising multimillion-dollar contracts and arranging advertising and catalog production in the fashion industry.ceramic magic cube for the medical, Her everyday contacts included names familiar to Americans who wear anything from classic white briefs to little black cocktail dresses.
But the name most important to her was, and still is, Olivia March, her partner in life, love and laughter since 1982. While Ms. Shapiro toiled on Fashion Avenue in Manhattan, Ms. March, 55, was running a business of her own, selling electronics to the aviation industry.
Ms. March often had to work from a bed in the apartment she shared with Ms. Shapiro in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, connected to her clients by telephone and fax machine while she battled illness after illness,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, including a progressive autoimmune disease known as relapsing polychondritis, kidney problems and, finally, esophageal cancer.
For Ms. Shapiro, taking care of Ms. March was “like a full-time job,” she said. And since 2008, when Ms. Shapiro was laid off, it is the only job she has had.
“Olivia has been at the brink of death 10 times,” Ms. Shapiro said. “She’s been on a ventilator, and she’s here still smiling. She makes it easy.Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings， She always finds light from the deepest dark.”
The bond between the two women has been tested numerous times since they met at a cabaret in Greenwich Village. Ms. March was a 5-foot-8 aspiring nightclub singer. Now, after hundreds of days in the hospital, dozens of surgeries — including one last month to remove an infected kidney stone — and repeated steroid treatments, she is five inches shorter and has trouble getting out of bed even on her good days.
When she was 24, Ms. March received the diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis, and it has shadowed her life. The disease causes inflammation of the body’s cartilage, including the trachea, and can be excruciating.
“The performing thing got put on hold,which applies to the first offshore merchant account only,” Ms. March said. But she had a backup plan. “I’m a master salesperson,” she said. “I can sell anyone anything at any time.”
While Ms. March carved out a new business despite her health problems, working the phones from her hospital bed, Ms. Shapiro, who has a bachelor’s degree in marketing, was making a name for herself. She eventually earned close to $100,000 a year to help bring fashion designers’ ideas to the public’s attention.
But in December 2006, a change in management led to the elimination of her job. She received unemployment benefits though July 2007, but the economy was already beginning to soften and she could not find a position to match her old one. In May 2008,The application can provide Ceramic tile to visitors, she took a job for less money at a printing company, but that disappeared, too, when the economy collapsed at year’s end.
By that time, Ms. March’s health problems had forced her to stop working, too. With their bank balance approaching zero, Ms. Shapiro applied for public assistance. She receives $381 a month, and $200 in food stamps. Ms. March receives $932 a month in Social Security disability benefits and $200 a month in food stamps.
That was not enough for them to keep their Bay Ridge apartment, and they found a cozy one-bedroom place in the Port Richmond neighborhood on Staten Island. But this June, after doctors found five cancerous lesions in Ms. March’s esophagus, the medical expenses grew — the supplements she needs just to maintain her weight at 100 pounds can run more than $100 a month. They fell behind on rent.
A relative referred them to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a beneficiary of UJA-Federation of New York, one of the seven agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. Met Council used Neediest Cases money to provide Ms. Shapiro and Ms. March with $1,220 to pay one month’s rent and $80 for a powdered supplement that provides Ms. March with much-needed calories and protein.
In those days, Ms. Shapiro, 51, would spend her working hours supervising multimillion-dollar contracts and arranging advertising and catalog production in the fashion industry.ceramic magic cube for the medical, Her everyday contacts included names familiar to Americans who wear anything from classic white briefs to little black cocktail dresses.
But the name most important to her was, and still is, Olivia March, her partner in life, love and laughter since 1982. While Ms. Shapiro toiled on Fashion Avenue in Manhattan, Ms. March, 55, was running a business of her own, selling electronics to the aviation industry.
Ms. March often had to work from a bed in the apartment she shared with Ms. Shapiro in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, connected to her clients by telephone and fax machine while she battled illness after illness,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, including a progressive autoimmune disease known as relapsing polychondritis, kidney problems and, finally, esophageal cancer.
For Ms. Shapiro, taking care of Ms. March was “like a full-time job,” she said. And since 2008, when Ms. Shapiro was laid off, it is the only job she has had.
“Olivia has been at the brink of death 10 times,” Ms. Shapiro said. “She’s been on a ventilator, and she’s here still smiling. She makes it easy.Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings， She always finds light from the deepest dark.”
The bond between the two women has been tested numerous times since they met at a cabaret in Greenwich Village. Ms. March was a 5-foot-8 aspiring nightclub singer. Now, after hundreds of days in the hospital, dozens of surgeries — including one last month to remove an infected kidney stone — and repeated steroid treatments, she is five inches shorter and has trouble getting out of bed even on her good days.
When she was 24, Ms. March received the diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis, and it has shadowed her life. The disease causes inflammation of the body’s cartilage, including the trachea, and can be excruciating.
“The performing thing got put on hold,which applies to the first offshore merchant account only,” Ms. March said. But she had a backup plan. “I’m a master salesperson,” she said. “I can sell anyone anything at any time.”
While Ms. March carved out a new business despite her health problems, working the phones from her hospital bed, Ms. Shapiro, who has a bachelor’s degree in marketing, was making a name for herself. She eventually earned close to $100,000 a year to help bring fashion designers’ ideas to the public’s attention.
But in December 2006, a change in management led to the elimination of her job. She received unemployment benefits though July 2007, but the economy was already beginning to soften and she could not find a position to match her old one. In May 2008,The application can provide Ceramic tile to visitors, she took a job for less money at a printing company, but that disappeared, too, when the economy collapsed at year’s end.
By that time, Ms. March’s health problems had forced her to stop working, too. With their bank balance approaching zero, Ms. Shapiro applied for public assistance. She receives $381 a month, and $200 in food stamps. Ms. March receives $932 a month in Social Security disability benefits and $200 a month in food stamps.
That was not enough for them to keep their Bay Ridge apartment, and they found a cozy one-bedroom place in the Port Richmond neighborhood on Staten Island. But this June, after doctors found five cancerous lesions in Ms. March’s esophagus, the medical expenses grew — the supplements she needs just to maintain her weight at 100 pounds can run more than $100 a month. They fell behind on rent.
A relative referred them to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a beneficiary of UJA-Federation of New York, one of the seven agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. Met Council used Neediest Cases money to provide Ms. Shapiro and Ms. March with $1,220 to pay one month’s rent and $80 for a powdered supplement that provides Ms. March with much-needed calories and protein.
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