My Mother

My mother’s name was Rosemary and she was one of the bravest people I know. She recently died at the young age of 76. She was my best friend and champion. Many family and friends would describe her as feisty, not one to back down. Since October of last year I have been taking care of her. She had stage 4 kidney cancer. In the beginning we spent our days shuffling back and forth between doctor visits with hope and thoughts about where we would eat lunch that day. That period quickly changed. During her chemo treatments we sat together and talked about family and the news. My mom loved to talk politics. That quickly changed too. Doctor visits and treatment became almost daily. We both became more quiet and reflective. I felt angry about her disease. We would go straight from her home and then back again. Her strength quietly ebbing away.

The day my mom decided to stop all treatments is the day I believe she decided that she was not giving up but that she accepted the inevitable. She wanted to take control of whatever time she had left. I wanted her to keep fighting the fight as I was not ready. But she stood her ground and I had to respect her wishes. The disease took over so quickly. How she suffered in the end. My heart is broken, I miss her so……………