Heroes…sports figures, singers, or movie stars. Probably anyone you ask will give you these answers when asked the question, “Who would you consider a hero?” But for me, it’s a little different.
My hero is my mother. A year ago on my ride home from school I was told news that would change my life forever. Her words were small, but they had the biggest impact anything has ever had on me. “I have cancer,” were her exact words, which at first I thought were a joke, but this was just me putting false facts inside my head to try and make myself feel better. The rest of the car ride was silent with a thousand things rushing through my head. We didn’t talk about the cancer for a while, but when I was told that her first surgery would be soon, I couldn’t help but blurt out my concerns.
I couldn’t believe that she actually sat down with me and talked me through the whole thing. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for her to talk about what might happen if anything should go wrong. She was strong and helped me through it even though I should have been the one helping her through it.
The surgeries went smoothly but the after effect wasn’t so pleasurable. She couldn’t stand for long periods of time and was excessively tired. Probably the most unnerving thing she had to do was get all of the bacteria and fluid out of her with drains. If I had been in her position, I don’t think I could have handled it as well as she did. What really amazes me is even through the worst things that have ever happened to her, she always seems to have a smile on her face.
As soon as she could she started playing baseball with me again, which I thought she would never be able to do. She knew how important sports were to me and played through the daily pain that she had in order to keep me happy. She kept caring for others even when she had been face to face with a terrible disease from which many others had perished.
Today my mother is as strong as she was when she was facing cancer, and still as amazing. Whenever she is faced with a problem, she always knows how to handle it. You can never find her thinking about herself before others, which I think is the foundation of the best heroes. To all of those kids who wish they had a superhero for a parent, their wish may already have come true.