And The Summer Was Over

By Sam Gumprecht

I was sitting by the window, the sun rays peeking through sheer dotted fabric as they swayed, cascading, creating a lulling calm. The smell of a hot early summer pushed through the screen. I was peaceful, happy and worry free, cuddled in the corner of my room as the minutes passed by. The sound of pebbles underneath the rubber of a tire stirred outside as they arrived home. Springing from my cozy little nook, I bounded down the stairs. Each creaking as my foot pressed on them with excitement. The door swung open letting a wall of thick heat into the cool dry house. Someone unexpected had arrived, someone near and dear to the heart, my godmother. It felt like a surprise and I was overjoyed to have them home. Mom brought in food and stories and smiles charging the tone of the room with excitement. Chatting and catching up sitting around the kitchen, happy to finally not be alone in the house, put a wide smile across my face. The smell of the sandwiches weaving its way out of the bag and the feeling of family filled the kitchen.

“I need to talk to you about something”

Those mere eight words never mean anything good and always carry a bad shadow. That moment my gut sank and I nervously awaited the glooming speech. I had already heard those words before in my life and each time it was bad news that followed. I sat there fidgeting with my fingers, a tick I do when I get nervous or embarrassed. My appetite disappeared, the happy feelings had vanished.  I heard my mom’s word, and sat there as piece by piece I dissected the situation.

“They caught it early enough honey.”

But what if it develops into something ten times worse.

“There are so many people around us who are ready to be there for us.”

I don’t think I could actually live without her.

“We are going to try our best to keep a normal routine.”

This is actually happening, my mother is one of the people affected, my family is going through this .

“They are going to operate and try to take most of it out, then we will go on from there.”

What if I lose my mom, I don’t think I could actually make it through that.  

The end result of the jumble of words I heard was “ I have cancer”. I sat there for a moment awestruck at the thought that such a far off terrible thing was actually happening to me and my family right now. I had always heard of people having it and I knew people who were affected by it but never did I ever think that this stinging word would become such a prominent piece of my life. Throughout my fifteen years of life I had been through trying moments and throughout all of it my mother was my rock. I held on tight to her throughout the worst of the storms. But now of all things that the storm could have struck, it was my rock, my mom. I was going to have to be the rock through this storm and it made me scared to death. I was going to  have to be the one needed for comfort. I would be the one my mom needed instead of me needing her, it was terrifying to me. This wasn’t just a stranger I heard diagnosed with this terrible disease, this was one of my people. Cancer. Such a heavy word, weighted with pounds of emotions. The thought had never run through my mind that it would become a word I used in my daily vocabulary.

As tears poured down my face, the summer was over before it had even begun.