Stella B., Oakwood High School
The Yellow Brick Road
One of my mom's favorite books is the book “The Wizard of Oz.” In the book, Dorothy travels to the Wizard of oz, as she is traveling, she encounters different people. “To return home Dorothy must follow the yellow brick road to find the famous wizard of Oz.” Dorothy's journey is long and hard, she follows the yellow brick road and keeps going whether she interacts with the good witch or the evil witch. My mom always told me to think of life in the sense of a yellow brick road. You might make a wrong turn or encounter an evil witch, but you always keep going.
My whole life my number one inspiration was my mom. She's strong, fun, cool, and kind. Last winter my mom sat our whole family down, she told us she had been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. When my family heard this news the tears from me, and my sibling's eyes flooded out uncontrollably. All your life mothers guard us from scary and sad things going on in the world. When your mom is going through this it's hard for her to shield it from her kids. One of the hardest pains is the pain of knowing someone else is hurting and you can't help.
As my mom's chemo continued, I slowly became very aware of teenage boys'' constant jokes about cancer. My mom didn't want many people to know but she allowed me to tell my closest friends. The first person I told was my best friend. When I told her she knew how to react. For weeks she let me cry, rant, and not speak for as long as I wanted. I then told two of my other friends a few days later. I told them in the school bathroom thinking that that would make me not cry but instead, I went to my afternoon classes with smudged mascara. I'm thankful for these people because I do not think I could have made it through those hard months without them.
My mom's chemo ended a few months ago and she beat cancer. My mom's yellow brick road brought her to an evil witch, but she kept going. My mom fought the hard battle but the struggle of not being able to tell people made it hard for me too. You never know what people are going through. I have learned to always be kind to anyone and everyone, you never know what battle they are fighting. My mom's battle with cancer taught me many things. It taught me to be strong and never give up. It taught me that you never know what's going on behind people's smiles, and that my mom is the strongest person I know. I want to carry this lesson on in my life and I want to teach this message to the people around me. My mom's cancer was one of the worst things that has ever happened to my family, but it has helped shape the person I am today. I plan to keep following my yellow brick road and be as strong as my mom if I encounter an evil witch.
