My mother co-signed the loan I can no longer pay

Dear Delyara, I borrowed money to open a small salon. My mother co-signed because the bank would not approve me alone. She was sixty-eight and said she believed in me. The salon survived eighteen months. Rent increased, two stylists left, and eventually I closed. I still owe $31,000. Because I have missed payments, the lender has begun contacting Mum. She lives on a pension. Yesterday, she offered to sell the small car she bought after my father died. I told her absolutely not. She said, “Then tell me how we pay them.” We. That word is killing me. The business was mine. The dream was mine. The debt has reached into an old woman’s retirement because she loved me enough to sign her name under mine. She says we made the decision together. I know she is trying to protect me from shame. Every statement addressed to both of us feels like proof that my failure has learned her postcode.