Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Mamaw, Are You Going to Die?


(My daughter Sarah recently found some little children's stories that Debbie wrote for our grandchildren on her old laptop. I am posting one of them here ~ Joseph)

~ sometime in 2005 ~
After reading some children’s books about cancer, Aaron (age 6 at the time) asked, “Mamaw

            (short for Grandma), do you have brain cancer?”   “No, Aaron, I don’t have brain cancer.” “That’s good, Mamaw, brain cancer can kill you. Yes, it can, I replied. Where is your cancer? Under my arm, I answered, so he wanted to feel the lumps. And he worried that he would get cancer too. One night when he couldn’t go to sleep, his mommy asked him what was wrong and found him feeling under his arm., but she told him that cancer is not contagious and that he could not catch it from me. He was relieved and able to sleep then.

                                                       

Sierra asked if I would lose my hair and I told her yes, but I could wear hats to keep my head warm and that my hair would grow back when I finish taking chemo. So, when we look at pictures, I am Mamaw with hair or Mamaw without hair.



Sierra and Marcus like to pull my hat off to feel my head and check to see if the hair is growing. Sierra always reassures me that I still look beautiful, even bald.

                          





And Alexander doesn’t ask a lot of questions, he just enjoys coming over to my house for “time with Mamaw”. We usually play soldiers on our blanket mountains and caves and sometimes we just laugh and play together on the bed (even Baby Tristan gets in on the rumpus). Alexander really doesn’t like it when they drop me off for a doctor’s appointment or chemo, but I try to reassure him that I will be fine and that I will come back home.
                                                                                                                               

Recently, Aaron was sad so we talked about it. I asked him if he was afraid I would die and he nodded his head. I told him that we will all die someday and go to live in heaven with Jesus if we love him. I explained that it would be like me walking out the front door…you wouldn’t be able to see me but you would know where I am.





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