Today is my Mom’s birthday. I’m sure to most of my readers this is kind of an irrelevant piece of information, but to me, it is monumental. It is just shy of 6 months since my Mom was diagnosed with stage 3A lobular invasive breast cancer. She’s been through 5 rounds of chemo, has lost her hair and is now on shots to shrink the tumor more as well as the lymph nodes that are affected. Her cancer thrives and grows on the estrogen in her body and these shots help to stop the flow of estrogen. She will very soon have a mastectomy. Just last night she was commenting to me that she wants to get the surgery over with. She said she wants the cancer out of her body. I reminded her that the oncologist would like to shrink the tumor and lymph nodes further. I said that she may lose some feeling in her arms or have permanent numbness if they remove the lymph nodes before they have shrunk enough. Her response was quite simple….she said “I don’t care about that…..I want my life.” That kind of stopped me in my tracks and I really didn’t have much of a response. How do you respond to this constant will to live? As usual, her strength and conviction continue to amaze me. Looking at my Mom you wouldn’t have a clue that she has cancer or that she is sick in any way if it weren’t for the fact that she doesn’t have hair. I love to watch her continue on with her life and not let the big “C” word get in the way of anything she wants to do. Today she is at home with my kids taking my two oldest to swim team practice and then taking all 4 of them to the pool. She told me to have our nanny come later this morning as she likes to be there in the morning with the kids by herself. I couldn’t ask for a better Grandma for them. She could easily be laying around feeling sorry for herself, but not my Mom. She does quite the opposite and lives life for all it is worth. So, today I celebrate the life of my Mom and how much she has taught me about love, compassion and perseverance. Happy birthday Mom. I love you.