2007年VOA标准英语-California Mother Recovers from Loss to Help Fa

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
05 April 2007

A California woman survived a personal tragedy with a commitment to help others that is keeping the memory of her late son alive. VOA's Mike O'Sullivan spoke¹ with Valerie Sobel, who lost her son to cancer, and now helps the parents of seriously ill children.

Valerie Sobel came to the United States from her native Hungary by way of Canada, and ended up in Hollywood as a young actress. She appeared with Jimmy Stewart in the 1962 film, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, before leaving show business and settling down to raise a family.

Sobel was married to a successful lawyer, and says she had everything she could ask for. But, a series of shattering events would turn her life around. She lost her teenaged son, Andre, to cancer, and, within a year, lost her grief-stricken husband to suicide.

The deaths led her to contemplate² the plight³ of other parents who faced the catastrophic illness of a child. She learned that such families often break up because of the stress of the child's illness, leaving a single parent to care for the child alone. She says many families lack the financial resources that she and her family enjoyed, and face hardship when a parent takes time off work to care for the child.

"At that point, you may soon lose your job, and with it, the medical insurance that is going to take care of your child. You will basically find that you will not become litigative, you will not be pounding the halls of Congress to say, 'Here I am, and I have no more money to pay my rent next month," she said.

She says, too often, people feel they are facing the crisis alone. There are avenues for help, including public assistance and provisions to keep health coverage⁴ after leaving a job. But she says distraught families often lack the time or ability to navigate⁵ the system.

Erwin (Valerie's late husband), left, and Andre Sobel

Thousands have turned for help to a foundation that Sobel set up in memory of her son, called the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation.

She says the program, administered in just a dozen hospitals in seven U.S. states, helps pay for rent or utilities, or buys food and gasoline for people who have run out of resources.

"The neighbor does not come to provide meals any more. The church has already put on the bulletin board what has happened. Aunt Lucy in Nebraska has already sent all the money they can. They are not only dealing⁶ with a tragedy of possibly losing a child to terminal illness, but they have already felt the indignity⁷ of their situation, that they are alone financially," she said.

Sobel donated two-thirds of her personal fortune to finance the foundation, but the organization is small, and works through a small number of medical institutions. Hospital social workers screen and pass along requests from needy⁸ families.

Sobel worries about the families she is unable to help, but she says they are not always the ones with children in hospitals.

"I am most concerned about these families that, once they are discharged from a hospital - so they are no longer part of the medical system - do they have transportation to go home? And, is there a bottle of milk once they do?," she said.

She says the foundation keeps alive the memory of her son, whom she describes as a young man with a lively curiosity, a thirst for literature and a love for people. She says he was also compassionate⁹, and the foundation continues its work in that spirit, as it helps the families of children and teenagers like Andre.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

3 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

4 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

5 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 indignity   

n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑

参考例句：

• For more than a year we have suffered the indignity.在一年多的时间里,我们丢尽了丑。
• She was subjected to indignity and humiliation.她受到侮辱和羞辱。

8 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

9 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。