from the beginning

To tell my story in an intelligible, cohesive, chronological way, I need to provide some background information.

I was born in 1985. I have two brothers. J is six years older than I am and B is six years older than J. 

In 1987, my Mom found a lump in her left armpit/breast area. She was concerned and several times voiced this to her doctor. She was told by her practitioner that lump that she found was nothing to be concerned with. After many frustrations, she visited a specialist. The specialist said something along the lines of "you should have been here six months ago." She was 35. 

My Mom was deeply religious and extremely active in the catholic church. Over the year following her diagnosis, she traveled to many places to seek out help. She and her sister even traveled to Yugoslavia, where the Virgin Mary was said to have appeared to some children. 

In the following months, she underwent a mastectomy. There are stories about me running around with a small pillow yelling, "I have Mommy's booby!" While healing from surgery, raising three young children, and undergoing chemotherapy, her situation did not improve. 

There are very few photographs of my Mom from this time. The chemo had caused her to gain weight, lose hair, and become very self-conscious. I turned 3 in July of 1988, she passed away three months later. She was 26 days from turning 36 years old.