A Mother's Strength: How My Mom Taught Me to Fight Through the Darkest Times

  My name is Valaeria, and I want to share a story about my mother, a woman who faced death with incredible strength and love. A story about how I learned what it means to be strong, even when everything around you seems to be falling apart.

  When I was 10 years old, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Everything changed in an instant. One day, my mother, who had always been strong and smiling, began to feel ill. Her hair started falling out, her skin turned pale, and instead of telling me “everything will be fine,” she started to protect me from the harsh truth. But I knew. I knew something was wrong. Our world shattered in a heartbeat, and I, a 10-year-old child, was suddenly face-to-face with the harsh reality of illness.

  My mother began going to the hospital for treatments that drained her energy. Days went by, and I didn’t recognize her anymore. Her eyes lost the light they once had, and her body was fighting an invisible but enormous enemy. While she fought with everything she had, I felt my world crumbling, nothing felt the same. I saw her struggle with every step, with the pain making her fall, but I never heard her cry or give up. Instead, she told me to be brave, to not let her weakness make me weak.

  Then came the nights when she would wake up trembling from cold or sweating from pain, and I would hold her hand, feeling her suffering pierce my soul. There was nothing I could do, no words to comfort her. I could only speak softly, make her laugh, but I knew I was there, and I wouldn’t let her be alone. Even then, she tried to smile at me, to tell me everything would be okay. But I knew it wasn’t true.

  With each passing day, my mother grew weaker, but she also became stronger. I watched her fight not just the disease but also her own fear of death and loss. But my mother showed me that true strength is not about being invincible; it's about having the courage to fight even when the odds are against you. She learned to fight not just for herself but for me. She taught me that women never give up, even when everything around them is falling apart.

  One day, my mother looked death in the face, but she didn’t surrender. She kept fighting, kept teaching me about life, even as the illness took its toll. She told me that the real power of a woman is not in the fight against the world, but in the fight against herself, in those moments when everything seems lost, and yet you choose to keep going.

  Even now, after my mother is no longer physically here with me, I feel her presence always. She taught me that, no matter the difficulties, I must stay strong. That even in the face of death, I must fight for what matters most: love, family, and the belief that I will find the strength to move forward.

  This is my story. A story about a woman who, even in the face of death, showed me what it truly means to be strong.