Hero Essay: A Story About A Mother And Daughter Who Goes Through Cancer - Hampton University- English - Essay

Khrystiana Howell
Dr. Cannady
Written Communication 1
10/09/18
Only for A Season
As I sat there patiently waiting for my mother to come out of the doctor’s office, I heard a loud scream. I sat up abruptly and listened closely. It was a horrific scream to the one heard in multiple horror movies. I looked up at my grandmother who had tears rolling down her face. Nothing could prepare me for what was about to come.
It was a rainy afternoon as my grandmother picked me up from kindergarten then took me to Saint Joseph's hospital in Normal, Illinois. When we arrived at the hospital, we pulled in, and saw my mother’s car. I asked my grandmother, “Why are we here?”
She replied softly, “We are just going to have to wait and see.” I was unsure of what that meant, so I grabbed my juice box, my filthy white blanket, and followed my grandmother inside. As I entered, I noticed my mother sitting in the waiting area and I immediately ran to her. She kissed and hugged me tightly, then she began to cry.
I kept asking her what was wrong, but I never got an answer. Three generations of women were waiting, my mother held me while my grandmother held her. We sat in the waiting room for what felt like hours until my mother’s name was called. My mother kissed my forehead and said, “I’ll be back shortly, just sit here with your grandma.” I kissed her back and told her I loved her.
An hour went by, we were still in the waiting room until my mother walked in with a slip of paper. Tears rolled down her face uncontrollably.
“It’s stage 4 breast cancer,” she said.
I looked at my grandmother as she started praying. I was crying but I was not sure why I was crying. I had heard of cancer, but was not exactly sure what is was, that it came in stages, and more importantly what it meant for my mother to have cancer. I simply did not understand what was going on or what it meant for my mother. As my grandmother started praying and held onto my mother, I stood helpless with an abundance of questions.
As time progressed, I could tell my mother had become weaker than the days before. She attended weekly chemotherapy visits and I could tell it was weighing heavily on her. One da...