The new stove and lawn furniture.

The first time my mom told me she had breast cancer was the night we got a new stove. I was in high school at the time and I was at my boyfriends on a Friday evening. I got a phone call from my mom telling me to come home. I asked why I had to come home and she just told me to get home. I was mad because it was a Friday and it was way before my curfew but I went home anyways. When I walked in the house four of my neighbors were helping my dad put in the new stove. They were all laughing and carrying on about how the stove didn't fit right. Life seemed okay in my house at that time, but I was wrong. My mom began to cry and told me to sit down. That's when she said the words no one wants to hear, "I have breast cancer." I stopped thinking at this point because I didn't know what was going to happen to my mom. We immediately hugged and exchanged no words. This bad news turned awkward when the men in the kitchen would bust into laughter. It was hard to cope with the fact my mom could be dying, while the men were laughing and carrying on with life. The stove took priority in every ones life for a second and life seemed okay.

The second time my mom told me her cancer was back, my dad was throwing lawn furniture into the yard. I had just got home from school and most of my family was at my house. I walked in to find everyone crying. My looked at me and said, "my cancer came back." Being in shock and not understanding I decided I needed to do laundry. I just needed to be doing something and that was the first thing that came to mind. On my way downstairs I looked out the back door and saw my father throwing a lawn chair into the yard. After he threw it he leaned against the deck with his head down. This is when it hit me, this is real. my mom's cancer is real.I ran downstairs with my basket trying to understand once again what was going one. I was crying so hard while putting clothes into the washer, I didn't even separate the colors. After the wash was started I talked myself into going back upstairs. Everything after that was a blur because all I could think about is my mother could die.

Being told my mom had breast cancer is something I would never imagine. Being told more than once was the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with. Telling your family bad news is not something you plan for. My mom had some heavy news to tell and when the time came, she told.