Cancer.
It's a curse.
It turns people's lives upside down and ruins their relationships.
Brynne Foster is a perfect example.
After being diagnosed with leukemia at age 17, Brynne's family struggles to accept her decision of refusing chemotherapy...
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Growing up, I was your average cheerful girl.
When I was four, I wanted to go to Disney World and meet Snow White. When I turned six, I wanted a pony and two puppies for my birthday. When I was ten, my room was filled with pom-pom's and rainbows. The second I turned sixteen, I went straight to the DMV to get my driver's license.
It wasn't until I was seventeen that the only thing I truly wanted was for my life to become normal again.
Once you find out you have cancer, everything else seems to become small and insignificant. Things start to fade away. You begin to lose sight of the dreams that you once cared about and your only goal is to make it through the day. It's a never ending battle and most of the time, cancer wins.
I still remember the day my life was changed forever, like it was yesterday;
It was a crisp autumn morning and I had just woken up to the scent of my mom's infamous brown sugar cinnamon muffins. I noticed my head was hurting, so I let myself sleep in another thirty minutes because my first class wasn't until later in the morning. My junior self was living her life to the fullest.
I loved autumn. Still do. The smell of pumpkin spice and the bright colors of the leaves as they fell slowly to the ground, there wasn't anything like it.
Once I had woken up completely, I brushed my teeth and took a quick shower, wanting to get my hands on one of the muffins before my dad and brother ate them all. I knew that my mom was going to save me one regardless but honestly, the craving was getting hard to ignore.
Once I had finished getting dressed and doing my hair, I made my way downstairs. To my surprise, there was only one muffin left on the plate.
"I knew it," I groaned.
"Sorry sweetie, you know how much Grant and your father love these muffins," my mom chuckled.
"It's okay, I wasn't that hungry anyway," I lied.
Knowing her, she'd probably make a whole other batch for me to take to school and share with my friends, but I didn't want her to be late to work. Upset about my muffins, I grabbed the bottle of maple syrup and walked over to Grant who was sitting at the table and downing a muffin that was probably not his first one.
I leaned down and whispered in his ear, "This is war."
I couldn't control my laughter once he realized that maple syrup was running down his face.
"MOM, Bry just spilled maple syrup all over me!" He whined.
I immediately started running out of the kitchen and into the living room, knowing that he was not going down without a fight. Even though he is twice as big as me and two years older, I'm wasn't afraid of a little challenge.
