Mom (aka Memaw)

When I was little, I always thought my mom the superhero sort.

I was in high school when my mom got cancer. She had a mastectomy and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I remember coming home from school and she would be laid up in bed, not feeling well. All this, and I was immune to the gravity of the situation – I think, because she was my MOM. She was like a super freakin’ hero. She knew everything and could do anything. (Certainly, she would never die.) And anyway, that sort of drama didn’t happen to our family.

wow - that seems really naive now.

But you know what - she beat that cancer.

My mom has cancer again. We are all just taking it one day at a time. Waiting for and focusing on receiving that next piece of information, and, direction. So, yesterday we received more news that I think, honestly, we were all kind of expecting. But you know when you hear it, when you get that confirmation it suddenly becomes “real”? (They found cancer in her lymph nodes.)

At this point, that’s all I really know.

"When we were children,

we used to think that when we were grown-up

we would no longer be vulnerable.

But to grow up is to accept vulnerability...

To be alive is to be vulnerable."

(Madeleine L'Engle)