Throughout my life I have had many moments in my life where I didn’t know whether or not I would survive.  I have crashed into a jet skier while going 40 mph while tubing, I have been on a plane that had the oxygen masked come down because we were suppose to crash, and I have had a severe concussion which had me in the hospital in a deep sleep for three days.  All of those experiences are some of my most extreme and scary moments I have had in my life, but for some reason the most scary time of my life has come within the past four months.

Recently, I discovered both my mom and dad were diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I think why it hit me so hard was not only because my parents were both of my heroes in my life, but because ever since I was little it never occurred to me that my parents would ever grow old, or become sick, or even eventually might die, but once this news hit me I was in shock.  First my mom was diagnosed and then a month later came my Dad. Through all my dad’s treatments my mom would help lead him through the tough time by telling him what to expect, what the treatments were like, what medicine to take, what diet and foods would help battle this cancer, and how to deal with this disease mentally and physically. She did this while still having the cancer herself. To my surprise not only did this help them stay positive throughout the treatments but it brought them closer together and more in love.

During this time I would be away at college and my mom would call me crying sometimes, and tell me how sad she felt that my dad had to go through this horrible disease and how she thought it might be her fault that he had this cancer. Since my mom is my best friend I did everything I could for both of them.  I would come home every weekend from college and make them watched funny movies, because laughter is the best cure for everything.  I would research different stories of people who had gone through this cancer and pass it on to my parents to make sure they would do anything they could to prevent the cancer from spreading. After my Dad was diagnosed, he then lost his job, which was our families only income. This news brought on more and more stress to both my mom and dad.   I was nervous that this stress would have such a negative affect on him that I kept researching more ways to bring positive feelings and vibes to him and my mom, and yes, I still brought home the funny movies every weekend for more and more laughter. Soon their treatments were over, and not only did the matching scars on their necks show their true bond and recovery from this disease, but it strengthened my faith in God and brought our family closer together.

I’m sure we all have had scariest moments in our life, or even lost people we loved, but I’m lucky to be here on Earth and I’m so lucky to have my parents in my life who have taught me that family is the most important thing in life and though life may be hard at times, at least you’re alive and living life.

Photo by Candida.Performa