A Little Love Note

I was trying to go to bed. But, I feel the need to share this awesomeness that is my oldest daughter, Hannah. Hannah was 7 years old when I was diagnosed with cancer. She was told the truth the entire way through it. We told them when the tumor was found, we sat down and explained to them what cancer was ~ a sick bug in mommy that the doctors hoped they got out, but no one is really sure. We told them Mommy is going to take medicine that is going to make her very tired and sick (chemo) and if there's any little pieces of that sick bug still in Mommy, the medicine will hopefully fix it. We never lied to them though - they knew that there was a possibility we might not find all the sick bugs and that Mommy might have to go live in Heaven. Heartbreaking for me to even talk about it even now - I still wonder how I sat down and explained that to them without totally falling apart. The one thing I knew was that if there was any chance that I was not going to make it ~ I wasn't going to be remembered as a liar by my daughters. I wanted them to know that mommy always told them the truth about what was happening. We do what we do as mothers because it's what we signed up for - the Mommy laws, right? Well, Gracie and Avery were only 5 and 2 years old, so they don't really remember much, Avery remembers nothing, thank goodness. But, Hannah remembers a lot. She remembers taking on a motherly role to her sisters and with some outside help from a psychologist she has gotten through dealing with those needs to take care of everyone but herself first. She is blossoming every day and has such a compassionate soul ~ she is the most loving, caring child.

Why am I telling you all this? My aunt has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Again, we had to explain cancer to them all over again. Today when Hannah came home from school she asked questions about Aunt Kathy. Today was her first day of chemo and her bone scan results were due in today. So, I called my mom to check on how things were going and it was a rough day, but everyone made it. That first day is one of the hardest. I told Hannah this and then sat down to watch the Bachelor. I worked on my layout below while watching TV - yes, multitasker :o). And after my shower, I walked into my bedroom and this was on my pillow. I brought it out to the kitchen to photo because I didn't want to wake everyone else up snapping photos in a dark bedroom. I love that she gets it. I love that she is happy. I love that we are free. Please, say a prayer today for all people fighting cancer, young and old, men and women.....may your wings be healed soon. Live Strong, my friends.