I walked into the living room which buzzed with excitement; birthdays are big events in my family. This was even bigger though, Grandpa Jerry's eighty-second birthday! The entire family was there; his kids, his grandkids, and his great grandkids. Around forty-five people, all in one room, to me this is what family is supposed to be.

After the party, as we got into the car, we were the last to leave; my mom started to cry. It wasn't as if she had any reason to cry, at least as far as I knew. My dad immediately asked her what was wrong.

"She…didn't…deserve…any…of…this…why…is…this…happening…to her…" my mother replied between sobs.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" I asked, confused to whom she was referring to.

All I got in response were more sobs and a shrug from my dad.

When we got home my mom went straight to her room and my dad followed her. My brothers and I went straight to my room, trying to brainstorm who she could've been crying about.

"Maybe she was talking about Aunt Debbie," suggested Jacob.

"No, that couldn't be it; she's been fine ever since she got out of the hospital. If she wasn't okay she wouldn't have been there tonight," I replied, at a loss as to who else she could've been talking about.

My mom called us into our living room after about ten minutes of us going back and forth as to whom she could've been referring to. She had us all sit on the couch. Then she told us. My cousin Wendy had breast cancer. They found the cancer only a week and half ago. She was going into surgery in four days. She had just turned thirty-five a month before.

I could see how hard it was for my mom to tell us what had made her so emotional in the car. I hadn't ever thought that I could feel more love towards my family than I already did, but after that moment I had more love to pour out to my family than ever before. Its amazing how one thing can change the way you think and feel forever.