It is not everyday that you hear the words “Cancer, Stage Four, Gaining Time and Quality of Life”. How do you prepare yourself when these words were spoken about your own mother? At 74, she is just getting ready to enjoy her family, yet a heavy blow is dealt.

This disease is a monstrous lion. It stalks you for months, maybe even years, then at the moment of least expectancy it lunges at you. Before you can react you are being carried away by your throat into the thicket to be promptly devoured.

How do a child tell his parent that her days are now numbered? From this day on there will be a limited number of laughters we can have together. From this day on there will be only so many dinners we can share. From this day on we can only hug and listen to each other x number of times. Then there will be no more…

However, and this is a big-ass HOWEVER, the hungry lion does not know one important detail. The “helpless” prey in his jaws is no ordinary creature. She is MY MOTHER! My mother is the strongest woman I know. She is a damn good fighter. She is my lioness.

Row 1 left is yours truly, row 2 number 4 is my mother holding my sister.

Youngest of four siblings, my mother lost her father when she was still a teenager. Grandma raised a large family on her own and became the superhero in mother’s heart. Leaving home to attend high school, mother carved out a life that is her own in the big city of Wuhan. Every step of the way she fought tirelessly. Every chance she gets she stood up for love. Every day of her life she tries to live up to the image of her own mother. This tireless pursuit for perfection is the source of her power.

Lions cannot easily devour another lion. True, mother is in the hunter’s jaws. True, she is bleeding heavily and life is draining away. But what is also true is that she’s been here before and she has won countless times. Mother survived Chinese civil war, cultural revolution, a massive earthquake, two house fires, landslide, a serious traffic accident, serious biking accident, numerous falls, countless other diseases and illnesses.

As the son of this powerful survivor, all I have to do is to remind her of her inner power and support her in every way she needs me. 2029, here we come! Mother and Son will see you there. We will be hand in hand, smiling, blissful, united, thankful, strong, contend and loving. Having lived the next ten year with blessed hearts we will finally say goodbye. But for now we are going to choose life and we are going to live the best years of our lives as a family.

Thank you mother for the opportunity to be your blessed son. Everything I am is because of you. Everything I have is because of you. I am extremely privileged to witness your incredible power. Your power to create life, to nurture life, to enjoy life, to choose life, to harvest life, to continue life and to finally say goodbye to life. When that day comes, your family will be there to bid you farewell. We live because of you. We are strong because of you. You are strong because of LOVE. And LOVE heals all…

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Published by ZEN WANG

Nuclear Project Engineer turned Filmmaker. View all posts by ZEN WANG