PT-LawMom

When I was 8 months pregnant, my best friend’s mother passed away after her second round with breast cancer. The doctors had refused to take her breasts the first time and, when they went in two years later, they found that the cancer was everywhere. Mrs. Horton was the most amazing woman. Generous, thoughtful, God-fearing and beautiful. She taught at a local Catholic high school and raised her children to be giving, friendly, welcoming people. Her daughter is a great testament to her life.

Mrs. Horton was in her early 50’s when she died. Lately it seems like more and more young women are developing this horrible disease and it appears to me to be coming on stronger than before. I visit their blogs to read their stories, pray for them and gain a bit of perspective. Last week Heather finished radiation on her aggressive brain cancer and now has to decide whether chemo is worth it. Kim has a law school final exam tonight and starts chemo tomorrow. Over at Toddler Planet, Mommy is suffering with an aggressive form of inflammatory breast cancer. Her children are 3 and 7 months.

Go visit these ladies, offer your support and try to remember that no matter how much stress is in your life, it could always get worse. These amazing mothers continue to do so much to benefit their families and communities. They are living! I will never forget the day that Mrs. Horton came out of surgery with her terminal diagnosis. I flew out of work and literally ran to the hospital about 10 blocks away to see my best friend. And you know what? From her recover bed, Mrs. Horton asked to see me. At the time, I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t really understand. But now I know that as she patted my swollen belly and asked me how I was feeling (not a word about her!), she was trying to tell me to live my life, to be a strong example to my child and to try to offer her own sweet daughter all the support I could. It’s been four years since Mrs. Horton died and I still think of her all the time. I only hope I can be half the mother she was.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 at 6:23 am and is filed under Mommy stuff, Random Musings . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.