Above everything else, honoring your family is of the utmost importance. Born and raised to a religious family, I was brought up to value the Ten Commandments within the Bible. Among these commandments is “honor thy mother and father.” As a child, the first of four children, that meant listening to Mom and Dad and using your manners when we had guests over. As for me, this also meant not to shy away when relatives who we haven’t seen in awhile came over to visit. All the children, meaning my brothers, sisters, and cousins were-and still are- to greet family members with warm embrace. It is so important to greet and treat family this way because, in an instant, all we may have are just memories of a relative.
I was about seven years old when my mother was expecting my second younger brother, Aidan. Up until this pregnancy, she had two miscarriages. One before me, the other between the birth of my brother and I. It was safe to say she had a history of complications. When she went into labor with my brother, the obstetrician found an abnormal mass in one of her ovaries. Turns out, that mass was a malignant tumor. Weeks after delivering Aidan, she stayed in the ICU while doctors and nurses ran diagnostics and eventually removed the tumor. Doctors and cancer specialists assured my mother that her ability to carry another child was severely unlikely after the procedure. By the grace of God, she was able to return home to care for my newborn brother.
Four years passed and everything was functioning seemingly well. One day, out of the blue my mother calls my brothers and I into the living room where my dad was sitting reading the newspaper, as per usual. She announced that another family member was on the way. We were so excited to have a baby sister. Against all odds, she had a normal healthy pregnancy and my sister was born in January of 2007.
However, the story doesn’t exactly stop there. Two years later, my mother started to experience severe pain in her lower abdominal region, similar to that of contractions. Slightly concerned, she headed to our local emergency room to figure out what was going on. After she underwent numerous CT-scans, doctors found another concerning cist. The cancer had returned to her reproductive system. The weeks that followed felt like a never-ending roller coaster for my family. We traveled from hospital to hospital to get my mother the best care. Being very young at the time, I didn’t really understand the severity of the situation. Family therapists and our church pastor prepared my dad, brothers, sister, and I for the worst. Doctors ordered her to have an immediate hysterectomy to prevent the malignant cells from spreading. While under the knife, the robotic surgeon nicked one of her intestines. The nick was so small that surgeons were unable to detect it after they stitched my mother back up and sent her to the ICU for recovery. That night, my mother flatlined.
She recalls a near death experience. She tells me in her visit to heaven, she saw Jesus and he ordered her to hold on for the sake of her family. My mother miraculously came back to life and doctors restitched the nick. After almost losing my mom, I matured faster than most kids my age. It was from that moment on, I knew never to take family for granted and to cherish every moment.
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