Remembering Mom and Dad

I don't normally get into personal details on this blog, but today has been a rough one.  I wanted to say a few words about my family on this Mother's Day.

In 1996, my father was having back pain and went to the doctor.  It was diagnosed as stage 4 lung cancer, of a type that the odds of surviving in that stage were 1%.  He was not a smoker.  He passed away 2.5 months after he was diagnosed, he was 49 years old.  I was 16 years old.

In 2012, my mother was having severe back pain with cysts that had appeared in the last few weeks and went to the doctor.  It was diagnosed as stage 4 breast cancer, and had spread to almost every organ except her brain.  It was triple negative breast cancer which is particularly aggressive and harder to treat,  she did get yearly mammograms.  She passed away 2 weeks after the diagnosis, she was 60 years old.  I am now 32 years old.

There isn't much to say, both were far too young when they passed and we had no time to cope with what happened.  I am grateful I had more time with my mom, but I wish she had spent less time working and bearing so much stress in her career.  I want to be a mom soon too, I can only aspire to raise my children as well as she did.  My dad was always the silly one, and though he wasn't able to be with us all of the time due to a heavy work travel schedule, he kept the family in balance.  Mom and I were always too serious, we needed some goofiness.

You never know what will happen to you or those you love, I am reminded again to hold on to this precious time we have with each other and don't let the little things get in the way.




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