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Erin's Action: "My mom! She beat cancer TWICE, and got two hip replacements in the past 5 years...but she's still boogy-ing and loving life. You go, Kath!"
My mom has always been...a go getter? A life liver? Lets call her active. From her days spent unicycling over the high wire in the youth circus (I guess this is what girls did before title IX), to scuba diving and traveling all over the world, to taking us on family vacations that always revolved around skiing down or hiking up mountains, to her commitment to daily exercise and wellness, to chairing about 8 million committees in the community (I'm still not totally clear on what they all do), she's always been an example to her children of how to keep yourself busy and engaged in positive activities.
I was a freshman in high school when she was diagnosed with lymphoma. When you're little, your parents seem invincible, sometimes even superhuman. They're stronger and faster than you, they know how to fix things when they break, and they are always able to open the seemingly impossible-to-open pickle jars. At a certain point, though, you realize that they are regular humans. For me, watching my mom going through chemotherapy was a huge reality check.
Chemo is tough on your body, and my mom had to change a lot about the way she lived. But even in the months when she was at her worst, she was still putting in hours at work, going to meetings multiple times a week, attending all of my swim meets, and putting up with a slightly self-centered teenager (me).
A couple years later, she was healthy, happy, lymphoma-free and back to her active life, but she hit another road block when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two different kinds of cancer in 5 years? Seriously? I think a lot of people would have had a grand pity party, but she handled her situation with a strength that I didn't fully recognize at the time. She kicked breast cancer out of her system, too (with the help of chemo and radiation treatment), and has been enjoying a healthy remission for a few years now.
It was a rough couple of years for her, and for our family, but as a result both she and our family are stronger, and I have some great pictures of her sans hair and me in my prom dress. Since then, it's been business as usual. Recently she's been spending most of her time flying across the country to fulfill duties as a brand new grandma. I have a feeling she'll be pretty good at it.
This blog may come as a shock to her, as I don't often openly sing my mother's praises, but it's about time I started. So, Mom, I didn't just post a picture of you boogying the night away with your son so I could get a discount on prAna clothing, I did it because you've been an inspiration to me for all 25 of my years alive. In honor of her recent birthday---cheers to 61 impressive years, and hopefully many more!
Like every mother-daughter duo, we've had our differences, but eventually, I had to admit that she's pretty rad.
by Erin Sheehy
This blog may come as a shock to her, as I don't often openly sing my mother's praises, but it's about time I started. So, Mom, I didn't just post a picture of you boogying the night away with your son so I could get a discount on prAna clothing, I did it because you've been an inspiration to me for all 25 of my years alive. In honor of her recent birthday---cheers to 61 impressive years, and hopefully many more!
Like every mother-daughter duo, we've had our differences, but eventually, I had to admit that she's pretty rad.
by Erin Sheehy
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