Running for a Cure
As the oldest of three sisters, I have often been held up as the role model. My sisters followed in my footsteps, just because I was the first. Now that we are adults and our ages have leveled, the roles are often reversed. While in college, my sister Charlotte frequently stayed at friends' houses over long weekends because our parents lived in France. Her favorite place to visit was Meg's house. Meg's mom, Joyce, always went out of her way to welcome her and make her feel at home. Joyce greeted her with fresh plump towels on the bed, a nice glass of wine, and a series of questions about her family. Joyce and her husband were really the picture perfect parents. They were high school sweethearts and just loved to have big barbecues for all the friends of their four children. Their beautiful yellow house sits on top of a hill with a huge porch with a swing chair. In the morning, Joyce always made her sit on the chair with a blanket and brought her coffee. Being welcomed in their family always gave Charlotte the peace she needed to go back to school recharged.
Four months ago, Joyce's household collapsed when she was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. One day, she was gardening and felt a sharp pain running up her back. They took her to the doctor and she had broken a vertebrae. A bunch of tests were done and Multiple Myeloma was the diagnosis. Since then she has been through several months of chemo and recently, a stem cell transplant. Multiple Myeloma is a blood cancer and at this time it is not curable. These are all just efforts to delay the disease process.
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