Ten Years

Last month was the 10 year anniversary of the awful terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the plane that crashed in Shanksville, PA. I chose not to write about the event, but certainly not because it didn't effect me. Quite the opposite, I will never forget that day in 2001. It is very emotional for me. I will never forget.

Our family went through our own personal tragedy 10 years ago. When I was a freshman in college and Ashley was a junior in high school, our mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. The diagnosis was terrifying. It felt awful for me being over 300 mile away, having to receive updates over the phone. I made a decision early on to travel home as often a possible. I brought a car back to school with me so that I could go home at any time. We had no idea what to expect and didn't want to count on my dad being able to come pick me up if necessary. My mom had several surgeries, and ultimately had a unilateral mastectomy. This was obviously major surgery, very scary for all of us. I still can't imagine how my mom felt receiving the news, scheduling the surgery and making the decision to lose a part of her body to save her life. I did know that I needed to be there for her as much as possible. I was there for her surgery and as much of her recovery as possible.

Every year since my mom was diagnosed, her yearly mammograms have been a huge source of stress for her and for us. There was always the fear of the cancer coming back.

My mom just had her yearly testing and received NEGATIVE results! My mom is now a 10 year Breast Cancer Survivor! I am so proud of my mom! She is a very strong and brave woman.