During our first few months together I
contacted banks, credit bureaus and my last husband to clean up my credit. With
the addition of our joint card, I was able to get low APRs on new cards of my
own, and pay off high interest debt.
Days after I zeroed the balance on one credit card,
a friend called needing help to move herself and her animals to Espanola. She
had transported my belongings from my sister's home in LA to Siri Gurbani Sadan
Ashram a few years earlier, so I said, "Sure, how can I help you?"
Bonnie was driving to Espanola for a job
interview, with three cats and a poodle in a rental car paid for by a Sikh CEO.
But once she arrived the rental would be up. She needed a vehicle and a place
to stay, and had no money. No one in the community willing to let her
stay with them would allow all those pets!
I offered to rent a van using my empty credit
card, which would provide transportation and give the animals a place to live
until she found a job.
That "until" lasted for over three months.
Bonnie was unable to hold down a job or a cozy living arrangement the whole
time. Her health and mental state were shaky.
My credit paid for Bonnie's medicine, pet
food, and gas money and whatever was needed for her basic survival. As the months
progressed, seemingly unrelated rental charges of $200 or more appeared on my
bank statements. I called the car rental agency. "What's up?" The answer--the
charges were "routine". I had never rented a vehicle for more than three days,
and had no idea of what I was getting into.
Rooh Singh would not let Bonnie enter our
home. He begrudged my generosity, saying it was irresponsible and foolish to
help someone like that.
Six years later, Bonnie still owed me $5000
plus all the interest fees my card incurred. But she was no longer mooching off
of others and was on the brink of a successful career. She is a visionary, an
artist--eccentric, but with a beautiful heart and spirit. I was grateful to be
able to help her in time of need, a service that builds credit in God's Court.