| Mira was a little girl, actually a big girl of four
years old. She was happy in her life. It was full of friends, cousins, fun
times, a wonderful house, a backyard and two parents who loved her and were lot
of fun. |
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| One day Mira learned something hard to hear: Mom had
cancer. Cancer is a sickness, except often you don't really feel sick from it.
Mira's Mom had cancer for the first time before Mira was born. Now it came back
and the doctors were concerned. There are lots of people in America with cancer
and doctors are working very hard to cure them. |
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| Mira wondered how her Mom could have something
serious like cancer. She didn't seem sick. She ran, went to work, laughed, kept
the house clean, played with Mira and cooked dinner, so . . . Mira was puzzled.
|
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| One day Mira's Mom explained to her that she had to
go to the hospital for a whole month to get some very strong medicine to fight
cancer inside her, so it would not come back again. Mira's Mom didn't want to
go to the hospital and be away from Mira for a month, but the doctors said she
had to -- or else she could get really really sick from the cancer. When Mira
heard about the month in the hospital, she felt like crying. So did her mom.
|
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| How was she going to get along without her Mom for a
whole month? Mira knew what a month looked like cause in school she learned
about calendars and a month is 30 sleeps. |
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| Once Mira's Mom went to the hospital, Mira discovered
something that surprised her: it wasn't as hard as she thought it would be! In
fact, she felt kind of grown up -- she and her Dad could manage, the two of
them. And Grandma and Grandpa and her Aunts Judy, Sue, Rachel, and Ruthie and
her Uncles Jeffrey, Danny and Micahel were real nice too -- they took her on
special outings. Friends brought dinner over and had Mira and her Dad to their
home for supper, and even Mira's teachers and school friends were extra nice
and helpful. |
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| Mira noticed how much love there was in her world,
even when the most important person, her Mom, was missing. |
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| When Mira went to visit her Mom in the hospital it
was hard sometimes. First of all, her Mom was bald!! The special medicine to
fight the cancer made her hair fall out; but it would grow back and when her
Mom came home from the hospital she would wear a wig or a scarf to cover her
bald head until her own hair grew back. |
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| The other hard thing about the hospital was that
Mira's Mom looked thin and kind of pale and was tired alot. Mira couldn't kiss
her either becuase of maybe giving her germs. When she went in her Mom's room
she had to wash her hands and wear a mask. Everyone told Mira that in a while
her Mom would look her old self again and Mira tried to believe them. |
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| Sometimes Mira would miss her Mom in the middle of
the day at school and feel like crying. But when she felt like this, she
learned to tell one of her teachers and then she'd get a big hug and in a
little while she felt better. |
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| Mira wanted the month to be over already, so her Mom
could be home and they could laugh and cuddle and snuggele and talk and play
like before. |
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| One night before Mira fell asleep she lay awake and
thought of her Mom lying in a different bed across the city and how neat it was
that two people could be thinking of each other at the same time in two
different places. She kissed her pillow. |
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| Finally the Big Day arrived -- Mom was coming home!!
Mira was excited but she also felt different -- like she was a bigger girl than
when her Mom left for the hospital. |
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| "I'm bigger now," she said to both her parents when
Mom was safe and sound at home again. "I know I can get along without my Mom. I
can brush my teeth and get dressed and go to school and have fun. I missed you,
but I learned a lot too. Not just about hospitals, but about how strong I am,
and how strong love is, and how I can help myself feel better when I feel sad
or lonely." |
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| "Mira," her Mom said, "I'm so very proud of you.
Sometimes life can be hard, but if you learn and grow from it, then you become
an even better person." |
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| Mira hugged and kissed her Mom and her Mom kissed her
back. They both had been through something very hard -- and they both felt
proud of each other. |
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