Inspirational Stories

My mom was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in August 2022. Over the course of a year, she underwent chemotherapy, caught COVID-19, underwent CAR-T therapy, and fought through many respiratory infections. My mom was a fighter. She wasn’t going to let a cancer diagnosis slow her down. She wanted to live between me and my sisters. We all took turns taking my mom to all her appointments. When she was admitted to the hospital, my entire family, which consisted of seven siblings and 13 grandchildren, all took turns keeping my mom company while she battled this awful disease because, in this family, nobody fights alone. My mom was always my mom to me. I never looked at her differently. We still joked about the same stuff and laughed at the same things. We still enjoyed our Jimmy John sandwiches together and often shared a donut or two from Dunkin. My life forever changed when I lost her on August 13, 2023. That was the day I lost my sunshine. I never truly understood loss until I sat next to my mom’s hospital bed and begged for a miracle that never came. She was the glue in our family and my dad's best friend. Today we continue to share stories of her and reminisce on how the world was better when she was in it. We will never forget her smile and her beautiful soul. Since she has passed, my family and I participate in the Light The Night (LTN) walk to remember her legacy and focus on seeing the light even in our darkest moments.