Hi! My name is Katie, and I’d like to share with you a beautiful story of my best friend’s mother’s feat over breast cancer. This story has a special place in my heart, and it surely will have one in yours very shortly. It goes way back, long before she had cancer, to a point when she was happy and healthy.
Two years prior to being diagnosed with breast cancer, Karen, my friend’s mom, had a brain aneurism, and was finally finishing her recovery from that when she went in for a regular checkup at her doctor’s office. The doctor went through everything as normal, and then it appeared. They took a mammogram and there it was….. In her right breast was a tumor.
Karen has been through so much, and has done so many good things for people, and she started doubting her capabilities once this happened. Even further back, long before her brain aneurism, she had gone through a gruesome divorce with her husband. She gained full custody of Nick, my best friend, after a long and brutal battle with the courts. Her son is amazing. He is sweet, giving, kind, gentle, and most of all, he’s like a brother to me, and if anything hurts him, it hurts me too, and nothing could have hurt him more than seeing his mother go through yet another horrific battle in life….
You’re probably wondering how I ever found out about Karen’s cancer, and I’ll gladly explain it. It all started when I was regularly attending school at WWMS and went into my second period class. This was United States History, and when I walked in, I heard my name being called out in a rather loud whisper, but I knew exactly who it was… Nick was signaling for me to come to his desk, and although it wasn’t far, I still didn’t want to risk getting in trouble. He said it was really important. I listened, and went over to his desk. As he pulled out his phone to show me a photo, he says, “My mom has breast cancer”. At that moment, I wanted to break down and cry, but I knew I couldn’t, because any sign of weakness from me would have completely broken him to pieces…
I was so shaken, and I could barely mutter out the words: “Are you serious!?” But, I managed to get that much out of myself. He continued to explain, and I listened intently. He told me all about how sad she was, and how upset this whole situation made him feel. The only thing I could say at that moment was for him to stay strong, and that I was there for them when they needed somebody. The rest of that school day was horrific. The day went well, and the classes were fine, but my mind was off in another world, thinking about Nick, Karen, and their family, and how I could help. I didn’t get any ideas until I was at home, doing my homework, and it hit me…
As I sat in the office, ideas started blaring through my mind. I couldn’t stop, I wanted to make cards, jewelry, notes, posters, signs, and most of all; my goal was to place a smile on her face. I think I accomplished my goal well. I made a large sign that in the center, in block letters read: “HOPE”. Surrounding that, I wrote in smaller print, words that I found to be inspirational. All of this was written in different shades of pinks, purples, and HOPE was outlined in black, to stand out. Not only did I make a sign, I wrote a note, and in this note, I told her how I felt, and how she needs to feel, and I gave some advice, and let her know that she was in my prayers, which she was.
Just last year, Karen and Nick, and their dog, Buddy, were over for a swim in my pool and a barbeque, laughing it up, and having a blast. Everyone was all smiles, and there wasn’t a cloud of sadness in the sky. The only thing that stank was the fact that they couldn’t stay longer, because of her not being able to drive or operate machinery. We did our best with having fun in the short time that we had, and boy, that was loads of fun. Even though Karen wasn’t yet fully recovered from her brain aneurism, she still made the best of what she had, and I think that takes true gift to do.
I feel so bad for this woman. She is like a second mom to me, and Nick is like my brother, and I don’t know what I’d do if anything more were to happen to this poor family. Their grandmother has been living with them in recent days to lend a hand, considering with one sickly person, and one teenager in a house, not much gets done, the grandma felt that she needed to step in and help. She’s been living with them for a while now, but their house is not huge, and they don’t have much to do there, I feel bad. Often times, I wish I could just pick them up and move them in here, but because I know that won’t happen, at least for a long while, I’ll just have to help from a distance, but I still feel like what I’ve done so far isn’t nearly enough. I need and want to do so much more for this family because they share what little they have with their friends, and that’s so kind, but they deserve to be in the other shoes for once. They need the help now, and I am working on a plan to do all that I can to give them that help.
As Karen continues to roll through life having doctor’s appointment after doctor’s appointment, she keeps a smile on her face, and that is truly special. She never fails to enter a room and just light the entire thing up. She’s such a joyous spirit, and always carries the biggest smile close to her. No matter what life has planned to make her cry, she’s always found something to make her smile. Whenever I’d get updates from Nick, they’d be positive, and if there was ever a situation where the update wasn’t positive, I’d go home right away and pray, hard.
Sometimes, as a 14 year old, I can do a lot, and other times, I can’t. By doing all that I physically can do to help this family, I’ve come to realize that helping others doesn’t come easy. It takes a lot of hard work, and a caring soul. There was once a day when Nick texted me, and I opened it expecting it to say hi or something, but when I did open it, there on my phone’s screen was a photo of his mother entering one of her first surgeries. She was holding the sign I made for her, and attached to that photo was a long and touching note about it. I read it, as best as I could with tears streaming out my eyes, and decided that I was going to do more. In came another picture message just about 24 hours later. She was out of surgery, and of course, smiling and walking about the hospital room! I was crying when I read this too, but this time, they were tears from Heaven, I felt the power of God flush through my soul at that moment, and I knew my prayers had been answered. I still have these photos in my phone to this day, and the thing I look back on them most for is to see her radiant smile, even when she was entering surgery, and shortly after too! That’s beautiful, that’s a miracle. I just want some help for this family, that’s all…
I hope that someone reads this and feels pitty upon such a giving family as this one. they don't deserve what's been given to them from others, all they need is a little support, and that's coming to you from the eyes of a 14 year old... i don't want to see my best friend's family get hurt anymore.... it makes me cry all the time, you guys are my only hope....
:'( please help me save these people from yet another toll in life.
