“ I was only seven when I found out.” My aunt Wendy told me. Imagine if you were in the first grade and you found out that you had cancer. Having to miss school and your life changing within a blink of an eye. Just knowing that you could die, changes your whole life. Staying strong is the hard part and my aunt has taught me so much about how you have have faith and never give up no matter what obstacles you may face. When you run into hard times, you can’t just give up. You have to believe that anything is possible and that everything will be okay. People never think about how important life really is.

“It was very serious and I knew that my sister could possibly die so it made me realize how important everyday was.” My mom Mishelle told me. My aunt’s life was different from most kids. She felt more self conscious because she started to loose her hair, she got really skinny and had bigger breasts than all of her friends because of the radiation. She didn’t get to do all of the normal activities that most kids got to do but she couldn’t control that. Her sister wishes she could have spent more time with her . She remembered playing in the playroom with her and buying her stuffed animals to show her love and concern. She didn’t know if she would still have her sister the next day so she always wanted to make her feel special.

“No pain, no gain” My aunt told me. My aunt went through so much when she was little. She went through bone marrows, spinal taps, chemotherapy, and radiation. She even went into coma for three days. She remembers waking up from coma and yelling at the doctors to turn those loud machines off. She was very frightened and didn’t know what to do. Before they would give her anything she told the doctors that she would hold her moms hand, close her eyes and told them to count to three so she felt like she was in control. “I always carried around my chuckie dog; it was my security blanket,” said aunt Wendy, Mostly her family and friends’ support and knowing that God was with her is what kept her strong. Watching tv made her feel happy. Going over to her family's houses and getting special attention made her know she was safe. She was close with some of her doctors and nurses because she was with them so much and they made sure she felt safe and happy at all times. She learned that no matter how much pain you may go through, you can’t give up. You can’t set your mind to negative thinking.

“Believe in more than yourself” My granny Bay told me. It was very difficult to have to take care of my aunt because she had to stay away from any sick people. She was sick on her stomach and throwing up everyday or so. She had to go to the hospital up the 3 times a week and undergo chemotherapy. She also had to go through radiation for 2 weeks and lost all of her hair. This made her very weak. She had to take a medication called prednisone, which made her gain weight quickly. When she was home, she was throwing up and missed school for 3 or 4 months. She ended up having problems because of the chemo like pain in her side. They took her to the Emergency Room and she ended up going into a coma in the ER. My grandma excluded herself from everything and really worried that her child would die. All she could do was pray. They found out that her kidneys were not functioning and that was the source of the coma situation. They had to remove her destroyed kidney and she stayed in the hospital for a little over 2 months. My grandma not only had to believe that she herself would be okay, but that her daughter would be okay too. The legacy of my aunt is to stay strong no matter what and to never lose faith. This teaches me a lot about life and how whenever I go through something difficult, I should never give up and stay strong and positive! She has taught me that there are many bad things that happen in life but you can’t let that bring you down.