Me & Mom...

This is my favorite pic of Mom and me!
My mom is gone but not forgotten!  It's been hard over the past three years to be without her.  If you knew her, you'd understand why!  I have been blessed to have had such a wonderful mom in my life for 40 years... I know that some people lose their parent(s) younger than I was when I lost mine.  

My mom was such a ray of sunshine, a light that burnt bright never quavering... Even in the face of cancer, she stood strong and brave.  She never complained to us (her kids).  I lived in denial until the end that it was really as bad as it was, because she looked so radiant and bright and smiley...even after all the chemo, radiation and other treatments she endured, hoping to beat this horrible maladie.  She gave it her all, she did a lot of it for us- so that she would live and stay around.  She wanted to live - she wanted to stick around. 

One day, about 3 years into her cancer (breast cancer).. she and I were walking around the field at Occidental College... I asked her how she was feeling about everything... She said to me that she was okay... but that she wanted to live and that "this cancer really SUCKS!" 

Mom was very funny... always making jokes about things and keeping us in stitches.. I miss her quick wit and great sense of humor... She could make you pee in your pants she was that funny!!

I wanted to share this special story with you all... It's a story I like to tell when people ask me about me and Alex - about how we met and how much he means to me....

Here it goes (although I am going to have to hold back the tears so I can type this)...

Alex had already planned to take his very first vacation in the U.S. (back in Dec. 2005).  He had his tickets and was really looking forward to spending the holidays with me and my family and meeting my friends and all...

Well, it was that in Oct., Mom's condition took a turn for the worse and she we almost lost her... She was really, really sick due to her liver being really bad off (about a year after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, it went to her liver).  

She had had a masectomy just after she was first diagnosed so she had no more breast cancer after that.  However, it had metastasized to her liver and was inoperable... she started chemo and another treatment called herceptin to combat the cancer in her liver... Nothing really worked, but it did buy her some more time with us.... which I am thankful for.  Mom looked really good for about 4 1/2 years so I was in denial that she was really bad off... PLUS, I was just holding onto the hope that she would get better!

Around the end of Oct.... I was on Messenger with Alex and asked if he could possible take a few days off from work and fly to the U.S. right away... even just for a few days... I wanted him to meet Mom before it was too late.  I had a feeling she wasn't going to last until he got there in December and it was sooo important to me that they both meet each other, because the were both so important to me...   

Alex was a little confused at first but when I said, "I don't think my mom will make it to December..."  He then said, "Okay, let me see what I can do."  That was on a Thursday night... Alex arrived at LAX on Saturday.  He spent a week with us... and Mom just loved him... and she was still pretty mobile and able to talk and all.. She adored him, as did everyone else in my family... esp. my dad and step mom!  
 It's a sweet story and a sad one... but I know how wonderful it was for my mom to meet him and for him to meet her!  I will always remember this for the rest of my life!