My mother told me she had a terminal illness and asked me for half a million dollars for surgery. I sold my car, ended the lease on my downtown apartment, asked my boss for an advance on my bonus, and borrowed some money from friends. I finally scraped together enough to give her. But the moment my mother got the money, she turned around and used it to cover the down payment on a house for my brother, Lyle Vale. When I found out, my mother waved a hand impatiently and snapped. "I'm your mother. So what if I lied to you? I raised you for so many years. Isn't it only right that you give me money? Anyway, the house is already bought, and you can't get that money back." But what my mother didn't know was that the half a million dollars was actually the money that would save her life.