Not long after my daughter and I moved into our neighborhood almost 10 years ago, another single mom and her daughter built a home and moved in a few houses away. Our daughters were about the same age and the two of them, along with another neighbor girl who lives behind us, became quite a trio, running around the neighborhood like their own girl gang. I'd chat with her mom when either of us ran into each other while out on a walk or when either of us were having a garage sale.
It's been a few years since Erika has played with Shantel but I knew something was up when I came home from work early Friday afternoon and noticed several cars parked in their driveway and along the street. When Erika came home from school she told me the sad news, that Shantel's mom, Shelly, lost her lengthy battle with breast cancer. She was 48.
My heart aches for Shantel and her family. I can't even imagine what this seventh-grade girl is going through right now, losing her mom and having to move to southern Minnesota to live with her aunt.
While I'm married to a wonderful husband now, I can't imagine what I would do if I were dying, knowing my daughter had her whole life ahead of her and that I would miss it all: Watching her go to prom, graduate from high school, fall in love, get her heart broken, marry and have children of her own.
When we walk in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure next summer I will be wearing Shelly's name on my back, walking in memory of a mom whom I know is terribly missed right now by all who loved her.
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