When I was 9 years old my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. At first it all seemed like a dream, but now when I look back, I realize that it was all for the best. Breast cancer changed my mom into a whole different person, a person that I am still getting to know. It made me realize how much I need her, and it brought my family closer together.
When my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer not only did she turn into a whole different person in appearance, but also in personality. It was almost as if I had gotten a second chance to get to know her, except this time I had more knowledge. It was when I came back from Italy that I noticed how drastically my mom had changed: she had gone bald, lost and gained some weight, and her face seemed to have become sadder. Along with her appearance her personality changed. At first she seemed sad and worried, then she began to ask more questions, spend more time with us, and spend less time working. We would play board games, go bowling, and take walks.
As my mom laid in her bed after her major surgery, unable to move, I realized how much I need her in my life. I recognized how important, hard, and stressful her job as a mom is, feeding us, caring for us, and helping us throughout life. It also made me appreciate everything she had ever given us: food, our home, clothes, safety and her love. I understood then how much I love her and how much she loved my sister and I back.
Her state of sickness also helped my family become friends and not enemies. My mom and dad stopped having fights, and they haven't had one ever since. My grandma and uncle became part of each others' lives after a long year of silence between them. It was all because of my mom, and the wanting of being able to support her as a united family through this state of her life. The family was brought together and all its wounds were fixed: it was as if the whole family had changed along with my mom.
Most of my mom's friends would show up at our house with cards and flowers, repetitively telling us how bad they felt for us. They never realized that in some ironic way, it was all for the better. I'm just so lucky that my mom is a survivor, and still part of my life, by my side every step of the way.