CNF

November 17th 2002, is when this picture was taken. It is about a year after my sister was born and it is a few days after my cousin was born.
     In the picture my mom is standing and holding my cousin,Laurel, who is wearing a purple and white onesie and is sleeping. She was like the perfect human being because she was so young she couldn't say or do anything she would regret and had made no mistakes. At the time she didn't know that she would be the yougest kid in the family or that she had an older sister. She didn't know that she would have a lot of people who would love her.
     My mom is holding Laurel like she is cradiling her. She is wearing a gray sweatshir, blue jeans, and a pink bandana. She is wearing a bandana because at the time she had breast cancer, but you probably couldn't tell by looking at the picture because she has this big smile on her face that shows all her teeth. She probably had no idea that she would end up having cancer when she was in high school and her dad would embarrass her in the stores by dragging his leg and acting like a person with a mental problem. When she had cancer she lost all her hair including her eyelashes, eyebrows and her hair on her arms and legs because of the chemotherapy she was going through. The doctors even told her she would have a hard time swalloing because the chemo would eat at the soft tissue in her throat. She never really seemed like herself when she was on chemo because she was always sleeping and getting sick a lot. She has told me that when you don't really know if you are going to live or die, you feel like you know everything. You would never know by looking at my mom that her mom died when she was six or that she would beg her sisters to drink her milk at dinner because she hated it so much. Even though my mom has had some sad things happen to her she always seems like she is happy and always willing to help out other people. She is always giving me advice now that I'm older like, to marry someone that makes you laugh or to not judge people by the way they look.
     Looking at this picture makes me feel happy and sad. It makes me sad because I remember how close I was to not having a mom and how my mom was in pain a lot of the time. On the other hand, it reminds me of how lucky I am that my mom survived. When I look back I can see how special she is to me because I recall how worried I was about losing her. I was so young at the time, only six, but I remember cherishing every minute I had with her, because I was unsure what the next day would bring. It also makes me realize that I have a really good mom that would never think of embarrassing me in stores by dragging her leg.