My grandmother was born and raised in the Philippines. In Manila to be specific. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, long before I was born. I was born in the year of 1999. My grandmother was one of the most important people in my life. I grew up with her and she was like my best friend. When I was around 6 years old, my grandmother started getting worse.I actually didn’t know what was going on since I was only 6. All I knew was that my grandmother was sick and that she wasn’t getting any better. I remember when my mom and I would go to her doctor’s appointment. Me, being the 6 year old that I was, wasn’t really thinking about it that much. My grandma would still go on with her life, like her sickness didn’t really bother her. She would take me to school, go to the mall with my mom and I, and do everything she did even though she was struggling.
When my grandma went into chemotherapy, she lost all her hair. My grandma had really nice hair and she was really sad when she lost it. She got a wig that looked like her actual hair and I thought that she looked like one of the prettiest women I have ever seen. There was this one time when my grandma was getting too weak to walk, so my mom had to get her a wheelchair. She hated the wheelchair and refused to use it. Whenever we would go to the mall or eat outside and bring the wheelchair, she would refuse to use it and she would say, “Why don’t you sit on it instead.” to me. She would end up pushing me while I was sitting on her wheelchair instead of her sitting on it. My grandma was one of the strongest people I have ever known because she never, not once, let her sickness affect how she lived her everyday life. She hated it when we treated her in a “special” way because she didn’t want to feel weak.
In 2008, my grandma was getting extremely weak. She was at that point where she was struggling to move around, feed herself, and walk by herself. She even had to use the wheelchair, which she hated, because she was too weak to walk. There were days when she would be so tired, that she wouldn’t even get out of bed. The first week of September in 2008 was the hardest for my family. My grandmother had to stay in the hospital because she needed to be hooked up to all the machines so that she would be able to breath a little better. My mom, brother, and I would always go to the hospital after school to visit my grandma and we would sometimes stay with her during the weekends. She still looked beautiful as she was lying on her bed in the hospital.
She soon started losing her senses one by one. She first lost her sense of smell, then she lost her sense of sight, she lost her voice, and lastly she lost her sense of hearing. It was the second week of September, it was Monday, and it was the most difficult and painful week my family and I have ever experienced. I remember this because my mom refused for my brother, cousins, and I to go back to the hospital. We called her and asked if she could come pick us up to go visit our grandma, but she said that maybe now is not a good time. I could tell that she has been crying because of the way her voice sounded. That night I knew that it was almost time for my grandma to leave.
My mom and aunt came home early the next day of that week, eyes puffy, and crying their eyes out. Even though I was young, they didn’t need to tell me what was about to happen. I told my mom that I needed to see her before she left and she said, “We’ll go tomorrow.” I wanted to tell my mom that I wanted to see her now, but I said “Ok.” because I knew how tired she was. We went the next day, and it was so hard to see my grandma, so weak and tired in her bed. I started crying next to her and my mom said, “She can’t see or talk anymore, but she can still hear every word she says to you”. After my mom told me this, I started talking to my grandma about all the happy memories we had together and tears started coming out from the corners of her eyes. I think that my grandma passing away had the most impact on me because I was her only granddaughter.
We visited her again on Thursday and just spent time with her. I refused to leave her side because I knew that at any moment she would leave us. That was the last time I saw her. My mom didn’t allow my cousins, brother, and I to go visit on Friday. On Saturday, September 13, 2008 was the day my beautiful and strong grandmother died. I was sleeping when my mom came home that morning. I was immediately awaken when she laid down next to me. She hugged me really tightly and she didn’t even have to say anything because I instantly knew that my grandma was gone. Everyday, until now,  I pray that my grandma is watching over us and I will never forget all the fun and amazing memories that I shared with her. I remember her every single day of my life. My grandma was a cancer survivor for 14 years and I think she is the most inspirational and strongest person that I have ever met.