A Mother's Perspective... The Gift We Should Cherish
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- Category: People
- Last Updated on Thursday, 12 May 2011 07:48
- Written by Terri Garlick
By Rebecca Trotman
In most respects, Hannah is a normal almost-3 year old girl. She loves pink. She loves things that are sparkly. She loves wearing beaded necklaces and carrying treasures around the house in her toy purse. She loves play-doh and stickers and cupcakes. She loves chasing her big brother and doting on her baby sister. She loves riding her tricycle and digging in the dirt and playing on the swingset. Like others her age, she is prone to occasional dramatic outbursts and has recently started asking questions (mostly of the “why” variety) all day long.
If you met Hannah now, you’d probably never guess that she’s been living with a diagnosis of leukemia for the past 1 ½ years. She’s doing well in her treatment and has a full head of hair. She is due to complete chemo in March 2012 and has a good prognosis. In a way, it was fortunate that she was only 18 months old when she was diagnosed – she was (and still is) too young to comprehend and remember the traumatic aspects of her illness and has no reason to see herself as different from other kids. Life with a cancer diagnosis, with weekly and bi-weekly trips to Yale for blood tests and chemo, is the only life she knows.
People who’ve experienced cancer themselves, or in their families, sometimes talk about cancer being a “gift.” While it may sound cliché, it is true. There’s been worry and fear and heartache like we’ve never known before. Hannah’s leukemia has taken away innocence but it’s given us clarity. It’s taught us to follow Hannah’s example by living in the present and living each moment to its fullest –not always easy in this age of constant technological distractions. It’s taught us to embrace what’s going on right now, to notice and take joy in the” little” things: The weight of Hannah in my arms as we cuddle for a bedtime story, the sound of her shrieking with excitement as she runs around the backyard, the vision of her face covered in chocolate after a trip to the ice cream shop, and the privilege of getting to answer—or at least try to answer—all of her endless “why” questions.
Having experienced first-hand how fragile and precious and uncertain life is, we now recognize that these things are not “little” at all; they are everything.
Team Hannah is one of the many teams involved in the CureSearch Walk in Ridgefield, Sunday, May 15th, and we thank her mother, Rebecca, for reminding us why participation is important.
