This post is not about my children...but it is about a child. A child whose mother has breast cancer. That child is me.
We've only known about this for a few weeks. I have a wonderful group of friends who check on me often, asking if I'm doing okay with it all. And I am. Actually, it's been kind of easy. Because Mom has made it easy. She's positive, practical, and seems to be taking it all in stride. I guess that's what good moms do...make hard things easier. She has a strong faith and it shows in everything she does. And because she's strong, I can be too.
The day before Thanksgiving, they took her left breast. My dad, my sisters and I joined a whole group of other people who loved her in the hospital. We teased her that she had a "network" like the cell phone commercial because there was a whole entourage following her as they wheeled her down the hall to the surgical unit. We waited together, talking, laughing, and secretly praying in our hearts that it was going to be as okay as we hoped it would. Finally, the doctor came out. She did so well he let her go home the same day...Happy Thanksgiving!
I was able to stay with my mom for a few days. I did the things I could to help her...laundry, dishes, fixing her hair and standing in the bathroom with her as she examined her new scar. She didn't cry or complain. She said how nicely done it was.
This is not the first time she's had to deal with an imperfect body. She has no hearing in one ear and wears a hearing aid in the other, wears glasses, and lives with one side of her face being immovable due to nerve damage. She jokes about falling apart piece by piece. The truth is...my mom is more than the sum of her parts. Her most important part - her soul- can never be surgically removed. She's strong, beautiful, and full of faith...loved by everyone who knows her. Especially this child...just another piece of her.
3 comments:
Seriously, I am at school and I am sitting here crying. A little warning next time would be appropriate!!!! I have been thinging about you and your mom since Thanksgiving. I couldn't remember if the surgery was the day before or after Thanksgiving, so I prayed both days for her.
Talk to you soon. I am out of town for another conference (Springfield this time) so I will catch up with you maybe over the weekend.
Thanks so much for the kind words about your mom. I think it is handed down, because my mom was the same way. I've often been told and often said, "The more comfortable you are with yourself, the more comfortable other people will be with you."
sandy
I really wanted to "tune in" this morning but got covered up. As it turns out . . .what a great note to end my day on. I am one of those who loves your mom dearly and I am blessed to have her in my life too. Her and those "nuggets" ya know! :) I am just now getting to know you but I sense that you are like your mom in more ways than you probably want to admit. Hillary and Parker are very lucky to have both of you in their lives.
Post a Comment