“It was a pleasant Sunday morning in July 1988. I should have felt as content and relaxed as any other mother of a six-week-old beautiful baby girl. The baby still had the precious delicacy of a newborn and yet had begun to develop a schedule that allowed the new mother more rest and renewed strength.

“Yet, I was tense and worried. The results of my post-partum examination had shattered my hopes and plans for my family of four lovely children. “A cancerous illness,” the doctors said. As I sat there with numbing fear, I could hear them say something about an urgent operation because of the critical stage of the illness. I couldn’t believe they were talking about me.

“That sunny Sunday morning appeared to me as a ray of hope. Before consulting the doctor again, I decided to pay a visit to “770” and speak to the Rebbe as he distributes dollars to be given to charity.

“I asked a neighbor to accompany me. ‘I’m nervous, I feel weak, and I don’t even speak Yiddish,’ I told her. She readily agreed to come.

“As we approached the Rebbe, my neighbor related my desperate condition: ‘The doctors say they have found cancer.’

“‘So they will lose it!’ the Rebbe responded, his face breaking into a broad smile.

“We were stunned. The Rebbe’s matter-of-fact answer had caught us both off guard and in our confusion, we thought we had not heard correctly.

“‘What?’ we both burst out.

“The Rebbe was still smiling. ‘You told me what they found. Nu, so whatever they found, they will lose.’

“By this time, I had grasped the Rebbe’s words and I was overcome with emotion. “I have a six-week-old baby,” I blurted tearfully in English.

“The Rebbe looked at me warmly and said: “You will merit to raise her to Torah, chuppah (marriage), and good deeds.”

Shortly afterward, the doctors indeed told the woman about a loss, one about which she and her family were very relieved to hear.