A horrible burden 😔

My best friend of nine years is stuck between a rock and a hard place. She found out yesterday that her mother has stage four lung cancer and is not getting treatment. This will be her mother’s last Christmas.

The thing is though, is that her mother doesn’t want anyone, ANYONE in the family to know about it. She doesn’t want anyone to try and talk her into getting treatment, etc. She just wants to pretend it doesn’t exist until she dies.

That would be all fine and well, if she hadn’t told my friend!

Now my friend shares an apartment with her brother and can’t tell him his mother is dying. She can’t afford to go home for the holidays. She won’t be able to see her mom before she dies... and she has to keep this horrible secret the rest of her life or risk losing the rest of her family.

I told her that even though her mom is dying and it’s her wish, her mom shouldn’t be so selfish now that someone knows... and that she needs to preserve her relationship with her brothers and sisters and her father even... but she won’t.

I don’t k ow what to do. I can’t afford to get her a plane ticket, and I can’t go behind her back and tell her family so they can. I can’t just do nothing and force her to martyr herself again.

I messaged her sister and told her a great present for my friend would be to spend the holidays at home because she’s homesick but her sister is broke too. I’m lost.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I don’t k ow how to get her home for the holidays.