Monica sent a message to Larry Ellison Co-Founder and CEO, Oracle Corporation – email address that said:
First of all I feel a little silly writing this email asking for money. This is something I never thought I would do. I don't think anybody loves begging for money but this is my story:
I grew up in Italy in a middle/upper class Jewish family. My father gave us a nice apartment and everything we needed but he and my brother never got along and it was a constant fight and yelling.
Around the time I was 14 a bad illness (I don't like to talk about it, it still hurts, so will not explain further) stroke my family. Slowly my father lost all his possessions and the apartment we grew up in got taken by the bank. We were left with no home.
By the time I was 27 I moved to the US where I met my husband. We got married 5 years later. All I wanted in life was to get married young and have kids young, clearly that didnt happen as by the time I got married I was 32 and when we started trying to build a family nothing happened.
In the meantime my family in Italy was struggling.
My husband is a hard worker and was able to start making decent money, not a millionaire but decent living and he started paying the rent and food for both my parents and my brother (2 separate rents as my father and my brother can not live together).
My brother is clinically depressed and unable to work. He used to have a costume jewelry biz he had started on his own from scratch but that was closed when my father asked a loan on that entity name and was not able to return the money.
My husband is paying for 3 rents (including ours, we don't own either and I now our landlord is cutting our lease off out of spite because I asked him to fix a very leaking faucet, which was leaking even when shut off) and food knowing he will never get this money back. I feel terrible, I spend the minimum trying to save every penny i can and I haven't bought myself a thing in years.
After 2 years of trying to conceive I was finally able to give birth (after a surgery) to a beautiful boy who is now 3. We have been trying to expand the family for 2 years now and nothing to do and again, I feel bad spending any money on doctor visits knowing the we need the money to support my parents and my brother.
You see, my father is a hard worker, he works in diamonds, he is an expert, when he was 17 he used to cut diamonds in Israel, unfortunately in diamonds, you can not make any money if you dont have some money to begin with so right now he can not work.
We are not beggers. My father would not be happy to know I am writing this email but unfortunately supporting them is starting to be hard on my husband and is putting my marriage in jeopardy as we are under a lot of pressure (although my husband never complains! But I see he is under a lot of pressure and we recently had a big fight).
Besides taking care of my family, my husband also donates money (monthly) to a few Jewish organization as he believes in charity. I believes he donates 20% of everything he makes and he doesn't consider the money he gives to my parents charity although he will never get it back.
I can promise, I can assure you that with the money my father would receive he would not just sit on his bottom and eat out of it, he would try to multiple it while being able to pay for rent and some food.
My goal is to bring my parents and my brother to the US close to me and try to live a stable happy life again. My father is 70+ and is currently living by himself in a small suburb city in northern Italy which really worries me.
My husband and I live in NY. My mother already has a green card and is staying with us (imagine having your MIL around at all the times, no matter how great she is) so it won't be difficult to get one for my father but the problem is my brother, he can't be left behind by himself, his visa will be the most difficult to achieve, if even possible!
I am also currently looking for a job. I still need to take care of my preschooler so I am looking for a decent part time job which is not easy to find. I speak 4 languages, I am good with computers and I have a pleasant appearance looking younger than my age, but I cant finding a job.
I also tried opening an ecommerce business but I am so insecure about my entrepreneurial skills that every time I start I fall back. But I am sure part of it is also luck, which I may currently lack.
I am not going to take more of your time, thank you for reading this long email and I hope to receive at least a response which is not automated.
As for how much I am asking. Any amount you would consider reasonable to help my family get back on their feet and save my marriage.
You don't know how much this would mean to me and to my family. You will have our gratitude forever and ever.
In life all you need is some brains and some luck, sometimes the brains are not even necessary if you can compensate with enough luck. We seem to be lacking on the luck side but I am hoping to be able to change that.
Thank you again,
Monica
