Emily Clay

Co-Survivor

Survivor: Her mother, Cindy Clay

This is a story that my daughter, Emily – who was 15 at the time, wrote for her English class. I never saw the story until about 4 months ago when I was cleaning off the computer. It touched me so that I just sat there and cried. It is truly unbelievable how much children comprehend.

Story: My Mom
I still remember the freedom I felt the long, scorching summer before fifth grade. I was so happy to be leaving behind elementary school, recess, and being in the same school as my mother. Somehow, I felt I was entering a new chapter in my life, but it turned out to be a different, much larger change than I had ever expected.

This was the summer my family and I discovered that my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. It is a memory I will never be able to forget, and a life lesson of respect and faith that I hope I will always remember. I have always been a “mommy’s girl”, which means that I have always looked up to my mom more than anyone else. She is my rock, my support system, through thick and thin. I always knew that my mother’s faith and trust in God is what made her the woman she is. Even when my mom was at the weakest point of her sickness, she managed to keep her heart full of love and her head held high.

Even though I was young when my mother was diagnosed with this horrible disease, I knew that it was a difficult task to overcome. I thought that my mother’s life was going to go crashing down, but my mom persevered. Without one complaint, she went through every treatment with hope and grace.

Even through the endless pain and the numerous medications the doctors prescribed to her, my mother stayed strong and kept her faith in God. She didn’t want her children to see her in a negative light, even though we knew that she was suffering.

Eventually, she finished her treatments and went into remission. This month, we celebrated her fifth year of being a breast cancer survivor.

No matter how old I get I will always remember the concern for, not herself, but her children, that my mother showed when she told us the news. This is what I respect the most about her. She puts others before herself even in her darkest hour.

Even though she was diagnosed with this terrible disease, my mother found the positive side of the situation. It strengthened her relationship with her family and with God. There is no other person I would like to mold my life around.