Growing up, March 13th was always a day of
celebration in my household. It was my mom’s birthday, and there was nothing
better than eating cake and ice cream while we watched her face light up as she
opened her cards and presents. Today is March 13th, and I would do
anything to be able to spend her birthday with her again.
To put it all into perspective, my mom wasn’t sick on her
birthday in 2010. By her birthday in 2011, she had passed away. I never thought
that cancer would affect a beautiful person like her. She was selfless,
compassionate, loving, and a wonderful mother. But cancer is relentless, and
with the blink of an eye, she became terminally ill with multiple brain tumors.
It all happened so fast – one minute they weren’t even sure it was cancer, the
next minute she was in a wheelchair, then next minute she was having brain
surgeries and chemotherapy. Later, the seizures began, and before I knew it, I
was sitting in her hospital room holding her hand, talking to her even though
she was no longer responsive. A few days later, I woke up and she was gone.
Every single day without her is tough, but days like today
are especially hard. Today is her birthday. It’s supposed to be all about her.
We are supposed to spoil her and show her how much she is loved. We are
supposed to celebrate as a family, and it’s a day that I never really pictured
to happen without her.
She may not be here with us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t
celebrate. We can continue to celebrate her life, her love, and all of the ways
she touched the lives of the people around her. She truly was an incredible
woman, and I am so lucky that I got her out of all the mom’s in the world.
There is one more thing I want to celebrate today – the
progress that has been made toward finding the cure for cancer. Not only do I
relay in memory of my mom, but I relay so that one day, everyone who has been
affected by cancer in some way can celebrate happily knowing that no one else
will have to suffer from this disease.
We can do it. We can do it because of organizations like
Relay For Life. Happy birthday, Mom – we WILL finish the fight for you.
With RelayLove,
