…Hello, if you’re reading this my name, is Cynthia Gooding. I am 72 years old as of the writing of this letter of explanation. And I never pictured myself at my age having to reach out to people in such a public way for help. My husband and I have always been very private people and very independent.
We started our life together at about age 30, I was living in Orange County Calif, very into horses, and he was a cattle rancher in northern New Mexico. I ran an ad in a Western Horseman Magazine looking for a life companion. (Before the internet). Somebody I could share my love of the great outdoors and animals with. Well, I received about 250 letters from that little advertisement. And well the rest, as they say, is history. We ranched and enjoyed our life with our two children (who are now grown) but after a few years we were forced to reinvent ourselves due to US dairy buyout which flooded the market with beef. This was in 1986 it destroyed beef prices and financially ruined us… “Thank you to political decision making that doesn’t know anything about farming or ranching”. We left the family ranch, and Stewart went to work first as an RV mechanic then as a teacher. He headed up the Math and Science depts at two different Schools is Arizona. Fenster boarding school in Tucson and Orem Boarding School north of Phoenix. While we were at Orem, he traveled twice a week to attend classes at university of phoenix and gained a master’s degree in business administration. We then left the boarding school life, and he gained employment with Charles Schawb. While there, he studied and completed the courses to become a CFP. We lived at many different locations over our married life, Georgia where he worked as a manager with E*TRADE and later we moved to Woodbury Connecticut. He took the train every day from our wooded hamlet in Woodbury to Greenwich and worked for a few years there with Plan Sponsor Magazine, a prestigious financial publication. There were a few other companies after that and always without exception we met and made friends with some truly wonderful people along the way. As for me, I became ill with undiagnosed Lyme disease at age 40. I remember it well because it was my birthday. This happened while we were at Orme school in Arizona. I was working for the forest Service at the time. I was surely bitten by a tick while out in the field doing spotted owl research, but no doctor would test for it because they kept insisting we don’t have Lyme disease in the west… After 11 years of endless doctors, I was finally diagnosed by a leading Lyme Doctor while we were literally living a stone’s throw from Lyme Connecticut. This was a hallow victory for me and our family though because the US dept of DDS or Social Security denied my claims for disability as they refused to recognize Lyme disease as a real thing! I don’t tell you all this to whine, only so you will understand that in a time when society had moved to a system where both adults in a household needed to work. I was unable to contribute in a financially meaningful way. So, living in a one-income household we did ok, but not as well as we would have liked… long story and lots in between, but Covid destroyed us financially. Stewart lost his job “without cause” from a major Corp. which shall remain unnamed due to no more than a reorganization of the sales division. This event combined with covid restrictions, shut down of our economy and his now increasing age He could not find employment. We used up our savings during the preceding years still trying to gain meaningful employment in his field of knowledge and then the worst happened… the thing you think will never happen to you until it does. Stewart had a stroke. While in the hospital we discovered he had at least 2 strokes, one estimated to have happened a couple of years before the one he was currently being hospitalized for at this time. I just thought we were both slowing down. I was wrong! This was approx. 6 weeks ago... In the weeks that followed I found out we were behind on bills and our mortgage payments were taking up all our Social security. So here we are… I sold my mule “Sweet”. she was my best friend next to Stewart. And I will miss her. Now the hard yard of trying to sell our house and belongings begins… Oh yeah, reality check, all that stuff you spend a lifetime accumulating that you thought was so precious. and valuable “its not”! Nobody wants your stuff and if they do they want it, for free. “Human nature I suppose”. I am doing my best not to judge other people’s motives. I have had a few people of exceptional character. People unexpected, that have heard of our plight and have stepped up unsolicited to help with cleaning up and to offer a shoulder to hang on to in this difficult time... The scriptures say in Matthew 6:19-21 “do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also…” I think all this has really brought that lesson home for me…At present we are looking at losing our home to the bank, or by selling it at such a loss as to leave us no home at all once the dust settles. And I think that is not far off. So, I am taking a very uncharacteristic move and reaching out for the kindness and benevolence of strangers that have no reason at all to help someone they don’t know, but here goes...
If you can help, our mortgage is $280,000. credit card bills approx. $20.000… that’s our pay out.Hanging on till the property sells costs us 2,774.38 per month. And Medicare is requiring us to pay 463.05 per month for the both of us. Today’s date is June 16th, 2026. I never in my life thought I would write a letter like this. but Stewart can no longer work, and neither can I. I think anyone can see that the math just won’t work. If anyone feels the desire and can help a stranger, I would be forever in your debt but if you can’t help but still took the time to read this letter, I would like to still ask for your prayers. God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform… Thank you for listening!
Blessings,
Cynthia Gooding
P.S.
I want to also humbly request that is anyone who is in possession of an RV that they would consider donating. we were thinking we could live in a well-insulated cold weather, hot weather RV. At least we would have a home…
