A year and four months ago I lost my mom to breast cancer. It’s a topic that still hits close to home, but the best way to express how I feel about my mom is through this essay that I wrote and later submitted to a site called This I Believe and got accepted to be published on.

I Believe Whatever My Mom Says Is Right

Everyone has that one person that they look up to, or that one person that gives such amazing advice that it’s hard to forget. This person is different for everyone; for me, this was my mom, and the advice I was taught is priceless. I believe whatever my mom says is right.

For as long as I can remember, I was always heavily involved in outdoor activities. When I started dressing on my own, I would wear beat-up, faded jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt. I played street baseball with my dad, and my mom coached my soccer team for years and treated every scrap, scratch, bruise, bump, bloody nose, and broken arm that I had. When boys started to become a big deal to me, my mom said that boys don’t like “girly girls.” Even though I really wanted to wear the little bit of make-up that I saw my mom put on every day and I thought that’s what made a girl beautiful and what all boys wanted. I listened to my mom. So as other girls put on make-up and learned all the tricks that came with it, I continued to dance and play sports. What happened next was that I was the girl always hanging out with the boys and then, before I knew it, guys liked me for not being a complete “girly girl.” I believe whatever my mom says is right.

From the moment I started school I was told to do my best. My mom said that I will go to college. There was no opting out, no “not going.” I was going, so I had to do my best, get good grades, and get into college. I was reminded of this every day, so when I entered high school I was making plans to go to college. I was dreaming of living on my own and making my future happen on my own. My dad took me on a college road trip my junior year of high school to check out potential schools like Humboldt and UC Davis. I was sure by the end of my junior year I was going to UC Davis, but my mom suggested I check out the college night that was at my school during my senior year. That’s when I found Sierra Nevada College and all my plans changed. I was still going to college like my mom said, and I was going to live where I wanted to live. I believe whatever my mom says is right.

My mom said never give up without a fight. I was taught this from the early age of seven on. Giving up in life was not an option for me. Giving up wouldn’t get me to where I wanted to be when I was older. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was seven and, being the oldest, I had to take on more responsibility while my mom fought one of the toughest battles she would fight over the next 12 years. Every time my mom would receive bad news, she would want to know how this time the doctors and her would battle it. When I received bad news about being epileptic, I wanted to know what I was going to do to be able to live my life to the fullest the way my mom had. I believe whatever my mom says is right.

When we received the final bad news about my mom, all I could do was not become completely defeated by the one fight my mom couldn’t possibly win. My mother passed away on May 9, 2010, on Mother’s Day, and all of her advice has stayed with me. Life is one big battle and the only good outcome is being happy, and that’s what my mom was. She was ecstatic to be with her family and to be loved unconditionally by family and friends. I believe whatever my mom says is right.

Here’s the link to see the article on This I believe 

-Sammy Marquardt