My Mother's Grace

I thought for a while about what I would like to say in this post- how personal I would like to make it and how much emotion I would share. This weekend, I was in a wedding in my hometown so I went home and stayed with my parents. The wedding was beautiful and the hope and love the bride and groom share is inspiring. While I was home however, my parents told me something that brought me to my knees. My mother, a breast cancer survivor of two years and thyroid cancer survivor of just a few months, is now battling cancer in her bones.

I am heartbroken. This isn't fair. She doesn't deserve this. And I'm mad. How could this happen? Friends that read this blog, I ask for your prayers. Also, if you come across any research studies following breast cancer patients where it's metastasized to their bones, please let me know. We're going to do everything we can to fight this. This isn't deadly, but it's incurable, causes a lot of pain and has the possibility to spread.

Now I want to share something about my mother. My father is the one who told me the news when I arrived home. He held me while I cried and told me we would all get through this together- our family is strong. I had to go to the rehearsal dinner right after he told me, puffy eyes and all, but when I got home I sat with my mom - talking and crying. She told me that she's done crying. Then she told me about something that happened while I was out at the dinner. You see that night was Relay for Life. She has been involved with Relay for quite a few years and the support her friends give her while they walk and raise money is amazing. This year, survivors received gift baskets and the race was rained out. As luck would have it, my mother's basket was switched and she received a child's basket full of Hannah Montana gifts: glitter, CDs, etc. What the hell was she going to do with this? Can't the universe cut her a break? If she can't feel unity and support from her friends at Relay because of the rain, can't she at least get the right basket? Then she saw a little girl, no older than nine years old. This girl was completely bald. My mom thought to herself, "You know, this sucks. But my life doesn't suck as much as hers or her mother's right now. I've been blessed with an amazing life so far." So she asked this girl if she liked Hannah Montana, and the girl's eyes became as large as saucers. My mom said "Well... they gave me this basket and it's full of Hannah Montana stuff and I think I'm too old for it." To which the girl replied "Yeah, you are." (ha!) and my mother asked if she would like the basket, then gave it to her.

This touched my mother. And this story touched me. What an amazing woman I've been blessed to learn from. I can't describe to you the pride I feel when I hear her talk about the faith and hope she keeps close to her heart. She makes me want to be a better woman and I'm honored to be her daughter. The grace and love my mother exemplifies every day is extraordinary and beautiful.