I’ll
never forget how excited I was the day I graduated from high school. Nothing could stop me; in three months I
would be off to college, with so much freedom and opportunity ahead of me. If only I could have been prepared for what
was to come. Two weeks after my high
school graduation, my sister and I started noticing a change in my mom’s
behavior. She began forgetting small
things like how to get to the drug store, what the date was, or where she had
placed her glasses. At first, we thought
she was having an off day, but the symptoms continued and worsened as the days
went on. We decided to take her to the
hospital and I remember one of the nurses asking her questions about where she
was and why she was there, only to consistently receive the response “I don’t
know.” Within 48 hours, she had gone
from a proud mother having watched her daughter receive her diploma two weeks
prior, to a woman in the hospital not remembering her own birthday.
That
day, the doctors found a brain tumor in her left frontal lobe, the area of her
brain that affects her memory and word recall.
After 13 hours of surgery, they removed as much as they could, but she
was still left to battle the most invasive, malignant portion of the tumor. I’ll always remember one of the first things
my mom said to me after hearing the news that she had brain cancer; “It is what
it is.” That’s the kind of woman she
is. She could tell that the people
around her were upset and worried, but instead of joining them in their fear,
she was strong, and has been strong every day since.
I never
expected anything like this to happen to my family; no one does. But it did, and it made me look at life in a
completely different way. It made me
realize how short life is, and how nothing should be taken for granted. I regret all of the times I fought with my
mom about going out or about my grades, but I treasure even more the goods
times we’ve had together. I cherish the
cookies she had waiting for me when I got home from school, all the lunches she
packed for me, and all the times she helped me with my homework. I cherish the family vacations we took, the
family game nights we had, the walks in the park with my dog. As Robert Brault once said, “Enjoy the little
things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big
things.”
As her
memory continues to quickly fade and her speech has become almost nonexistent,
she remains strong. I know deep down
she’s scared, but she puts on a brave face.
She has taught me what it truly means to be courageous. Not knowing what the future holds is one of
the most frightening things in life, but she rarely shows any kind of
fear. She continues to wake up every
morning to walk the dog and take care of the house, as if she is still leading
a normal life. I will never know what’s
going through her mind every day, but from the outside, she exudes
bravery.
Not
only has she taught me what courage is, she has taught me the importance of
family and having that unbreakable support system. For 18 years, my mom was there for me
whenever I needed her, and now it’s time for my sister and me to be there for
her. Driving her to the grocery store,
making her meals, keeping her company while she watches her favorite movies are
things she has done for us our whole lives.
I took for granted the little things my mom did for us, and now that the
roles are reversed, I’ve never been more grateful for those 18 years. I couldn’t ask for a better mom, and every
day that I spend with her, I realize how thankful I am to have someone as
amazing as her in my life. She has
always been my biggest supporter, my role model, and my hero. I hope and strive to be as incredible of a
person as my mom.
As hard as it is to be away from home, Relay for Life has given me a chance to
make something positive out of something so negative. Sometimes it’s hard to try to be happy all
the time and go on with my days like nothing’s wrong while my mom’s in and out
of the hospital. But with Relay, I feel
like I’m doing something to help her even while I’m at school. The American Cancer Society provides millions
of dollars a year to cancer research, with a large amount going to brain cancer
research. I’m not only relaying for my
mom, but I’m relaying for the millions of people affected by cancer every
day. I want to help end the fight
against cancer, and get people celebrating more birthdays.
With RelayLove,
Publicity Committee
