When the doctors told my mom that she only had twenty-four hours to live, she didn’t believe them and fought for her life? In June of 2004, she was diagnosed with a rare disease, which, at the time only 60 people in America had been diagnosed with. The disease is so rare that her doctors did not know how to diagnose it at first. The diagnosis did not even come from the local hospital; they collectively came from Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, and The Ohio State University Medical Center. Imagine a person had a normal life. My mom was that person. She worked at News Center 7 as a reporter which was a job she always wanted, she also had twin daughters. Her life was great. Then one day everything changed. Life had already been hard for my mom; she was the primary caretaker of my grandmother who had been fighting brain and lung cancer for six months. In early 2003, my grandmother had a stroke. Since then my mom took care of her, while taking care of most of our family. Since my grandmother could no longer be the glue that held us together, it had to be my mom. My grandmother lost her b...
I, of course, knew my mother as a mother. As I have reached adulthood and become a mother myself, I have also known her as a friend. My mom shared much of herself with me, and I saw sides of my mother as she struggled with her cancer that I had never seen before, especially her strong belief in positive thinking and the importance of quality of life. I was privileged to know so many facets of my mother, but certainly I did not know all. There were parts of her life that I didn’t see, relationships that I didn’t know about. Last night, at the wake, so many stories were told to me about my mom’s strength, courage, humor, kindness, her quietness, her loyalty as a friend. It was so special to hear of these things that my mom said and did, to know some of these other parts of her life. I hope that her friends and family will continue to share these stories with me and with each other so we can continue to know and remember my mom.
By the time I got home, my brother had already arrived and was enthusiastically recounting the day’s events to my mom, who had obviously been crying. When he finally stopped carrying on, my mom told me to sit down and then she told me. I will never forget her exact words or even the way she said them. “Megan committed suicide today.” I stared blankly at her, I knew she had to be lying, she had to be wrong, Megan would never do that. We had been too good of friends for too long, I knew her too well. Megan was always happy, she always had a joke to tell. She had such a bright future, she was an excellent athlete and it seemed as though she succeeded in everything she tried.
Terrie is a woman that loves everyone. She is a kindhearted person and doesn’t see a dark soul in anyone. Ten months earlier, she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer; a week after that, it turned into stage four. I took the news very hard. For several months, we shared stories, laughed together and ate potato chips, since that was the only thing she could taste and keep down with her chemo treatment. After eight months, she snuck up behind me and gave me a big hug. It was one of those hugs that held onto me emotionally. After that I never saw her again, until this moment: I broke down into tears while my friend witnessed it. I didn’t go to work that day, I stayed home making phone calls and praying that I would be able to see her one last time. My mother came home to comfort me. She got a phone call stating that Terrie was asking about me. My mother rushed us both in the little red car to the hospital. I ran up
In the early years of my childhood from what I could remember life had seemed to be decent. My mom was flourishing in her career at the Post Office and making an admirable amount of money, considering the fact that she was a single parent. My mom was very dedicated to ensuring that my brother and I had an exceptional life growing up. She worked what I would have liked to call insane hours. But even as kids, Derek and I understood the importance of her work ethics. We had each other and other relatives to care for us to make sure that we were never left alone or so that we didn't feel abandoned. To me life couldn't get any better then this. That was until my mother found a lump in her breast. I can recall that memory as if it had just happened yesterday. That one day, a lump that would change our lives forever , that small lump but yet so powerful and damaging that threaten to take my mother away from her children. It was like any other normal day. My mom was in the bathroom doing her normal routine when she came out of the bathroom and told Derek and I to get dressed. I don't know what made me look up that day, but I did. When I looked into my mother's eyes I knew something was wrong. You have to understand that my mother is a brave and strong woman that never expressed nor showed her emotions towards Derek and me other than her happiness. So that day when I looked into her eyes I saw nothing but pain, anger, and sorrow. At that time I couldn't quite find the words to describe what I had seen but now I know those were the perfect words to describe that look. It was terrifying, but yet she still remained so calm. Looking back on that day I don't know which really scared me the most, that look in my mother's eyes or the calmness in ...
I entered this world normally enough, in Tucson, Arizona; in the second hottest month of the year (July); at the hottest time of day (mid-afternoon). I had a mother and father who doted on me. At least, I assume they did. Tragedy struck early in my life, taking my mother from me at the age of two months. She died of a seizure caused by a tumor on her adrenal gland. I never knew her, so I always assumed that her death never really affected me. My boyfriend and therapist feel differently. After all, I may have been an infant, but I still suffered a terrible loss. Had my mother lived, I would likely be writing a happier tale. Yet all was not lost, after all I was not...
Today my family was having an anniversary dinner. I can’t believe that it’s been 10 years that she died. It feels like just yesterday that I received the news. Not a day goes by that I don’t remember her and I definitely will never forget what she told me the day before she died. I get ready to go to my family's home for dinner. I dread going because I hate seeing my family so sad and distraught. I get in the car and start thinking about what a wonderful life my mom had. Once I arrive I walk inside and hug my family. They all have the same sad look on their face, the same one on mine. We have dinner and share good memories that we had of mom. We laugh, cry, and reminisce together and before we know it the night is over. My mom was one of the most important people in my life and there will always be a missing hole in my
She took days that she shouldn’t have taken, but did. I was comfortable and safer with my mom by my side other then other family members. My mom was beyond worried. I felt her eyes stare at me when I wasn’t looking. This fear I her eyes of her youngest son in pain and stressed. To make me feel better she did the regular such as making tea, turn on the cartoons and read stories. My mom made me laugh and feel good about myself. Tells me she loved me, held me while I was down, and told me everything is going to be ok. There is nothing better then motherly
It was June 6, 2011. I remember taking my mother to the County Hospital’s emergency room. She seemed extremely exhausted; her eyes were half-closed and yellow, and she placed her elbow on the armchair, resting her head on her palm. I remember it was crowded and the wait was long, so she wanted to leave. I was the only one there with her, but I did not allow her to convince me to take her home. I told her in Spanish, “Mom, let’s wait so that we can get this over with and know what’s going on with you. You’ll see everything is okay, and we’ll go home later on.” I wish then and now that would have been the case. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with colon cancer that had spread to many parts of her body including her lungs and kidneys. The doctor said to me not considering that I was a minor and my mother’s daughter, “Her disease is very advanced and we don’t think she will live longer than a year.” With this devastating news, I did not know what to do. I thought to myself that perhaps I should cry, or try to forget and take care of her as best I could and make her laugh to ease her pain.
Losing one mom was hard enough but when I had to say goodbye to my second I thought I was going to die. On March 12, 1992 my mother passed away of acute leukemia and my older sister moved up in the family tree. She became my mother, my sister, and my best friend. When she left, it was hard to imagine life without her around. We seem to be the perfect age apart to completely understand each other. She is the person who keeps me going. She is my conscience and role model. She teaches me everyday to live and learn and always try my best. My friends and father all mean so much to me but whenever anything goes wrong my very first reaction is “What will Allison think? What would she say?”
Our whole future went up in the air, my mom was a stay at home mom and since we relied on my dad to support our family our whole lifestyle changed. I learned to adapt to a whole new way of life because of changes that happened practically overnight. After my dad passed away my mom, sister, and I got a lot closer and we had always been a tight family but now we held on to the only thing we had left, each other. My grandfather had been fighting stage 4 kidney cancer for several months before my dad died. After my father’s death my grandfather’s cancer worsened and he was more visibly ill. On February 18th, he lost his battle to cancer. Once again my heart was broken and I didn 't know how I could possibly get through losing my dad and grandfather in a matter of months, I lost two major role models in my life in five months which alone is a lot for a child to cope with. I had never been good at adjusting to change and there was so much happening so fast. My grandmother started to be a lot more involved in my life after my grandfather passed away. My mom was always “the good kid,” the one who was responsible and really was my
Since the age of 12, I have struggled to remember what my childhood was like; from time to time I regained a little memory about my life. I was brought up by my grandparents, who worked hard every day to make ends meet for me. However, my life changed on May 25, 1995, when I received a call from Belinda, a friend of the family, saying that my grandparents were in a bad car accident, and that they did not make it out alive. It seemed as though the world around me had come crashing down. Then my aunt Joyce, a mother of three children and a postal worker stepped up as my care giver. She eventually became a person that I looked up to as a great role model in my life. Joyce is a hard worker, generous, and a supporting person who gives good advice.
I took care of her for two years as if she was part of my family, with respect and compassion. The last week of her life, Alice was regretting quickly that she needed a hospice’s nurse coming to give medications and singing to her. Her son told me that she was ready to go, but wouldn’t let go because he was always around. So one day he told me that he needed to go to the dry cleaner. I ask him not to go, but he said to not worry. I was sitting by Alice’s bed side, watching TV, and while she was sleeping breathing heavily, I was holding her hands and singing the song: “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine….” I turned my head to watch TV for a second and turn back to her still holding her hands, and she wasn’t breathing. I jumped out of the chair and I started panicking and asking her: “please wait for Barry.” After few seconds he came and saw that I was agitated and he said: “don’t worry Anna, that’s what she wanted, I am ok with that.” He called the nurse that came to wash and prepare her. I was still in shock and afraid to touch her, but the nurse told me that we still needed to respect her, so I helped wash and dress Alice. For few days I slept with the lights on in the closet near my side of the bed. Alice’s son, Barry became a really good friend of our family. He became like a father to
I regret not supporting my mom to pursue her interests. I regret not trying to keep my family together in hard times. It was not anyone’s fault in particular; it was everyone’s. My mom helped us, supported us, and stood with us in every turn that this life took. She has been always a shoulder to cry on and always a reason to smile. Every morning, all of us would go out and meet thousands of other people, but she stayed home, waited for us all alone. She might have gotten bored at home. She might have wanted to meet new people everyday and expand her circle like we did. She might have wanted to see the world from her own eyes, rather than our eyes, from the stories we would share in family times. Everyone likes to do the things that interest them; my mom also did embroidery at home on our clothes, but she might have very limited work comparing to her capability. She might want to get praised for her hard work, because none of us had time to praise her for the things she did to keep us happy. My family may be just needed to understand her more specifically as she understood all of us. Mom’s love is unconditional, but it’s stronger than any bond we can form in this world. Not only my mom, but every mom out there has a soft heart. Soft hearted person just needs support, care, and some respect. Moms deserve a lot more than managing the household and cooking for their
Third year of high school. I walked into my house, expecting everything to be as normal. Mum sitting watching TV and my dinner sitting in the kitchen. Instead? I sat for four hours wiping tears off my face, it was almost peeling, with thoughts that I may not see my own Mother again. Cars constantly pulling up outside the house, blue and red were the only colours I could see. Asked question, after question, I didn't know if I could cope anymore. Shock, anger and happiness came rushing to me three days later; my mum was standing right in front of my own eyes. Despite everything she had put me through; I was relieved to see that she was alive. I couldn't go through losing another parent, not again.
In the condition she was in and in so much pain, she couldn 't be saved. Losing a best friend, more like a sister, was really rough on me although I’ve learned to be happy for her. For the life she had lived. The last time I spoke to her was the previous Monday, she was so happy. I remember her smile every time we see each other, the warmth when I give her hugs, how much she valued our friendship and that we were like sisters. Losing her taught me to not take anyone or anything for granted. That life is too short to worry about the negatives, to be bitter, or to be rude to anyone. The most important thing for me now is to be happy and grateful for a healthy family, and my overall life. I’ve learned to see what is truly important and what I need to fight for. I also feel after losing her I’ve become a stronger person. She is a memory I will carry with me until I die. Some day, I will tell my children about her and teach them that life is should be cherished. There is no telling when your time is up and if it’s tomorrow you must be happy with the choices you’ve made in your life. I know I will