As You Wish

'cause you know I'm too lazy to run.

On Saturday May 31st my mom and I walked 3 miles in the local LaRena Smith Bengoa Run, Walk, or Ride for the Cure. I've wanted to do something like this for a few months now and when I saw the ad at the grocery store I knew I wanted to participate. Not even a week after seeing the ad my mom mentioned that she would be participating in this event for the second year in a row and I told her I was in. She originally wanted to walk 5 miles, but I knew for sure that would be the death of me, so I told her 3 miles would be my limit.

You see I'm quite lazy, I'm not proud of it and I know I need to quit, but I hate being a quitter. Jokes! Once our backyard project is complete I'm going to take exercising more seriously. No really I am. Oh you don't think so? Well...we'll see. Ok fine you're probably right, but I really do want to do something about my laziness.

So...back to the walk.

As some of you may know we had a little bit of a scare with my dad thinking he might have cancer, but thankfully after his surgery we found out his nodules were benign. A few weeks later we were informed that my aunt had lung cancer. I was so happy when we found out my dad didn't have cancer. I thought for sure our family was healthy again. It was time to be happy and celebrate. Not now. The doctor told her the tumor is inoperable and we are still waiting to see what the treatment will be (if there is one).

My aunt is one of the most awesome people you will ever meet. She is sweet, kind-hearted, strong-willed, loving, opinionated, creative, humorous and beautiful (just to name a few). When I was in high school she lived with my family and we were so close. She was more like a sister or second mother rather than an aunt. I truly valued her opinion and I asked her for it quite often. Practically everyday before school I would check with her to make sure my outfit for the day matched and I would always put on two different shoes to see which she thought went better (I still do this to this day - thanks for your help Andrew).

She constantly makes me laugh when she says things like, "I need to warsh the windels." Translation - I need to wash the windows. I know you think I'm making fun of you Auntie, but I only do it because I love you and I like to laugh with you. I don't know if you know this, but you are one of my most favorite people ever. I'm always so excited to see you when you come to town or we make the trip to see you.

My aunt has had several battles with illnesses in her life and so far she has beaten them. All I can say is I know this is a rough time, but stay strong. You are so tough I know you can beat this. We all love you very much and we are here for you.

If I could take the pain for you I would. I love you and I’m so proud to have been given the middle name Rose because of you, Ms. Fontella Rose.

During the walk my mom and I both wore a lanyard around our necks that had a picture of my aunt (her sister), my grandparents (her parents), and someone who would like to remain anonymous.

My grandfather passed away in 1992 because of cancer in his lungs, brain, and liver and my grandmother passed in 2002 because of lung cancer. I still to this day miss them both. I really wish they could have been around to meet Andrew and see me grow into the person I am today.

My grandparents on one of their anniversaries

The woman who would like to remain anonymous is very close to my family. She is a wonderful person and I’m so happy to say she is a survivor. I love this woman and her husband as if they were a part of my family. Every time I see these two in person they always get the biggest smiles on their faces and I hope if you are reading this you know how much that means to me. You are such a sweet person and I’m so glad my mom has a friend like you.

*Update – I have been working on writing this for a while now waiting for the perfect moment to post and since beginning to write this we have received an update on my aunt. She was supposed to be going to see the doctor on the 5^th to see if there is any sort of treatment for her situation. The doctor my aunt went to told her she needs to go through a whole new set of tests because in the 20 years she has been a doctor she has dealt with 3 misdiagnosed patients and she wants to make sure that isn’t the case with my aunt. We should be hearing something back in the next couple of weeks, so in the mean time we will be praying that this isn’t cancer.