Cancer sucks...

I found out today that a coworker passed away on Tuesday after battling cancer for a long time. She gave a good fight and she lost. I feel horrible. I only worked with her a couple times but she was so memorable. Her attitude was awesome. I know she will be missed by those around her.

This makes me remember Chris. Chris also died from cancer. She fought hard but cancer is a really hard thing to beat. And thinking about Chris dying makes me remember how we became friends. It's hard remembering how emotionally unstable I was at that time. We were away at a church activity. I had been self-medicating. And I broke. There was nothing I could do to make it better. The guy I was dating at the time couldn't handle it. He didn't want to hear me say that I wished I was dead. So we broke up in the middle of my emotional breakdown. All I wanted was someone to hold me and tell me that I would get through it. Chris was that person. She found me in the bathroom sobbing out my self-loathing. She held me while I cried it out. She helped me find the guts to admit I had a problem. So I told her I had been taking pills. And I gave her that bottle to flush down the toilet. After that I was numb. I still didn't deal with everything. But every time I needed someone to talk to, Chris was there. She saved me from myself on so many occasions I lost count.

After Taci's accident, Chris was the only person who could make me feel better. It was so hard watching Taci go from the chubby exuberant baby to practically a newborn all over again. That wasn't even the hardest part. Watching how frustrated Taci got when she couldn't do the things she used to be able to do was. She would cry a lot. I hated seeing her pain and it practically killed me. I didn't know how to cope with my own pain, how could I help this precious child cope? But Chris showed me how. She would hold her and whisper in her ear and play with her. When I was too emotionally exhausted to deal with Taci, Chris would step in. She always knew when I needed help. She never once had to ask me.

And then when Chris was dying, she was so unselfish. That's what I wont ever forget. Her capacity to love and take care of the people around her even when she was the one who needed to be taken care of. She was so sick that last time I saw her. It literally hurts my chest to even think about her in that condition. But the whole time I talked to her, she only asked about Taci and me. She never complained about how horrible she felt. She was so amazing. It hurts to realize I don't have her to turn to anymore.

Chris was an inspiration to me. When I think of the person I want to be, it's her. And I know that whatever I accomplish in my life, she had a huge part in it. She got me started on the healing process. It wasn't easy dealing with being abused when I was a teenager so I just didn't. I cut myself to feel better. I took Lortab to forget my pain. I isolated myself when I should have been talking it through. And eventually I landed myself in the psych ward. I'm grateful for that experience. I know it sounds strange, but that's what finally forced me into working through my issues. I'm so glad Chris got to see me after I healed. I still have times when I don't feel all there and like I could breakdown at any moment but I just think of Chris and how amazing she was. She fought cancer twice. She won the first time. If she could make it through cancer, I can make it through anything. So thank you Chris! You saved my life.

Grandma dearest...

So Grey's Anatomy on thursday was soo good. It made me think and cry. And I don't cry for just anything. But there was a little girl who shot her dad like 17 times. A little extreme, right? Not so much. Turned out he was beating her mom and her and she was just trying to get him to stop. The mom was trying to get little Maddie to apologize to daddy almost the entire episode. Meredith, who is probably my favorite tv character ever, stuck up for the little girl and almost got suspended. But somebody had to stick up for the child, right? Even though the mom was a victim too, she should have put the little girl first. It shouldn't have gotten so bad that the little girl had to stick up for her mom. She was 6 effing years old. At the end of the episode, Meredith walked up to the mother and was like, "I know your situation is hard. But you need to change Maddie's story. It shouldn't have gotten so bad that Maddie had to protect you both. You need to leave him and not let this be in vain. Change her story for the better." Not those exact words, but you get the drift. The mom finally told the dad they were leaving for good and had Maddie say goodbye to daddy for the last time. But it got me to thinking. Not such a good thing, sometimes. But in this case it was. I thought about all the people in my life when I was the same age as Maddie. And about the people who put me first. And there was really only one person. Grandma. When everyone else I trusted was victimizing me, she took me away. She spoiled me rotten, held me when I cried, and showed me how to be a good person. And I finally realized the true definition of Mother. She's it. It isn't a bunch of words to me, it's a person. An incredible, unselfish, amazing woman. So I called her that night and told her thank you and that I loved her. I'm glad. I'd hate for something to happen to her and for her not to know that she is the most amazing person I know, and will ever know. And because Mother's Day is just around the corner, I wanted to share my amazing Mom with the rest of the world.