Recently, a good friend’s mother passed away after a 3.5 year battle with breast cancer.  When I heard the news, I immediately snuck into my Mom’s bed and held her tight, watching her chest move up and down with every breath – thankful that she was alive.

Someone once said, “God could not be everywhere, so He created mothers” and I could not agree more.  Moms are truly one of a kind.  They have arms that were made for holding, for cradling, for loving.  In these past 24 years, my Mom has used those arms to tuck me in every night, to rub my injured back, to wax my legs for the first time, to make her infamous tacos when my friends came over, to comfort me after a bad date, to hold my hand before crossing security at the airport, to squeeze me tight when I needed TLC, to love me unconditionally.  And though I have grown over these years (sadly, not by much), there was always more than enough space to fit in my Mom’s arms.  She’s like a magician.

As God’s special forces, mothers are armed with ears to listen non-judgementally and mouths to always say the right thing.  They are given eyes that can see past the brave faces, past the mistakes, past the insecurities and hearts that know no bounds.  They juggle a million things at a time, ‘wear different hats’ throughout the day and still go to bed with smiles on their faces.

Yesterday, while listening to my friend talk about his Mom’s passing, I came to realize that a mother’s real superpower is the way she lives on far after she has left this Earth.  Her legacy is maintained through the people she touched in her life, through the impact she had in this world and most of all, through her children.  In the values they espouse and the people they grow up to be.  In every decision, in every tough choice they have to make, she is there.  At every holiday, at every time of celebration, she is there.  She is always there.  And when her children have children of their own, and tell stories about their grandmother, she becomes alive again and her legacy continues.  That’s the true power of a mother.

Through my friend’s Mom, our own experience this year and the hundreds of other stories we hear about people and their journeys with cancer, it has never been more apparent how fragile life is.  How important it is to not take things for granted.  How essential it is to make the most of every moment we have with those who give meaning to our lives, to learn from them, to show our love, to carry their legacies forward.

My Mom is an extraordinary woman.  And although there is currently no cure for multiple myeloma, with God’s grace, she will have many more years to create a dent in the universe.

– Sabrina

P.S  We would like to thank you for your unbelievable support to help us raise money for Multiple Myeloma Research, as part of the 5K Walk to Conquer Cancer on October 14th, 2012.  If you have not yet contributed and would like to do so, please visit:  http://pmhf3.akaraisin.com/MMSTWM2012/npremji