Cancer is a terrible disease. No one asks to have the disease but we all know someone that is currently battling, is a survivor, or even someone that has passed away from this horrific disease.

This is where a big part of my life begins.

I know people in about every category I mentioned. But the main one, where my story starts, is that I personally lost someone due to cancer. This person was a rock and surely didn’t ask for the disease to take over her life. There is a saying, that everything happens for a reason. It makes us wonder what that reason may be.

I don’t know why this happened, but I know one thing is for sure: I have grown from the experience, and I will keep growing into a strong person.

I lost my mom when I was 17 years old.

She battled two different types of cancer in such a fast and rapid time. It hurts on the inside to know that she was gone for some of the milestones that I had in my teen years and that, as I grow up, she will miss other ones, too.

At the same time, the day was bittersweet. My nephew was born 12 minutes after she passed away. As someone told me, even though she did pass away, she still got to hold my nephew.

She looks down from heaven every day and watches her grandchildren grow. She is missed, but the little things in life make me smile when they remind me of her. I may not know the reason for why she left, but I know that she is not suffering from two different types of cancer anymore.

I pray that one day there will be a cure for cancer so that there will be no more fighting off this terrible disease.