“My parents passed on to me a sense of propriety and family, and they raised me in decorum and education. I continued to live these values even as I married and raised my two children. I didn’t think at all that I would be in trouble, it was completely unthinkable. I had a good white-collar job in an established company, my husband was an established professional, and I owned the house. Then … my husband and I separated. The children were both of age, one of whom had just moved to Lombardy and was starting a family, while the other was unsure of which path to take, whether to pursue education or work. I wanted to help my oldest son take out a mortgage for his first home by giving him the compromise money. They were savings set aside just for them. Soon after, my youngest found a job out of town, and I took a small loan to buy him a car. Unfortunately, in an accident, in which fortunately my son was not seriously injured, the car was completely destroyed and we had to buy another one. I had two loan payments, which was new to me. Later on, my son’s work did not turn out to be good at all, so he thought of opening a small company with some friends and I also helped him on that occasion with a third grant. It seemed natural to me to help the kids, but I hadn’t come to terms with the incidents, with the fact that things don’t always go well. I turned to a help desk when I received a gas and condo bill in the same week-it was clear that I was not going to make it. The desk referred me to the ADVENTUM Foundation, which asked me to put everything in black and white, expenses, installments, utilities… It was not easy. We agreed with the operators to deal with the financiers to close the debts and have a single installment and now, although it is still unthinkable to afford a week at the beach with my sister, at least at the end of the month I have no outstanding payments to anyone!

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