<prompt> Human: My daughter was recently diagnosed with bells palsy which is a temporary paralysis of the right side of her face...or so I thought... I just found out that her diagnoses was incorrect and she actually suffered a stroke and now is scheduled to visit a neurologist for further testing and treatment.My boss told me that he could not afford to pay me because he is suffering financially and has been in contact with attorneys about filing for bankruptcy. He told me that he will eventually pay me and apologized profusely for the ill timing - he was in tears. I am a single mother. I dont communicate with my daughters father nor do I receive any form of child support from him.Now I dont have a paycheck, a job and to make matters worst I now cant even buy one single christmas gift for my daughter. - wow how did I end up here?! I am trying to find the silver lining here but at the moment I am suffocating.My heart is broken into a million pieces. I apologize for not having something humorous to post but I just needed this out of me... Im sad very sad.EDIT: I am not sure if I am editing this correctly... hopefully I am. I want to clarify that I did not create this post to receive gifts or anything of monetary value. It was a moment of desperation from a woman who saw herself cornered with no way out. I wanted to voice something that had happened to me at the moment. I have received an overwhelmingly amount of good advice, support and generosity. I am so grateful to you all and someday I will pay it ALL forward. With the good also comes the negative... I have received PMs from people accusing me of all sorts of things and playing up the pitty card Im sorry you individuals feel that way... please dont expect a response. Anyway Happy Holidays to everyone. Thank you for reading my post... thanks again to you amazing individuals who cared for a complete stranger. Assistant: Why on earth have you not filed for child support? If you get on any type of public assistance they will almost certainly make you file.If youre in the US, you can quit and file for unemployment while you look for a new job.Human: I will be visiting the unemployment office Monday morning. Thank you for your advice. As far as her father goes he skipped town many years back and I have tried my hardest to find him. I never met his family so I cant locate him that way.  <response>: The child support office has resources to locate people that you do not. I bet you know where he either lived or worked at some point in his life. Its worth a shot. 