April 23, 1998

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE - NARRATIVE

 It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I was on my way home. I had just spent the weekend at my dad’s house and I had been playing with my step brother and my two step sisters.

I was so excited to see my mom. I could not wait to get home.

As I was in the car sipping on a soda, I was thinking about what we would do when I got there.

As I got out of the car, I could smell my mom’s famous Christmas cookies. I waved goodbye to my dad and began walking up to the house. As I got closer to the door a strange feeling came over me. I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of feeling it was.

Right before I stepped onto the patio my mom opened the door. She seemed to have a fake smile on her face. We walked into the house. She gave me a big hug and a kiss. I knew something was wrong.

Mom said, "I love you more than anything in the world," as a tear trickled down her face.

I asked, "What’s going on, Mom?" As she held my hands, she told me what was wrong, but I didn’t exactly understand what she was saying.

She said, "I have something called Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia." My first question was, "Can you die from this?"

She said, "Yes." Then we both burst out in tears.

I asked, "What is Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia?"

She said, "It is cancer in the blood."