Why wait with saying something nice if it can be done today?

Normally, I do not blog about personal, non-testing related stuff. But this blog post is different. If you are not interested in my personal emotions and private life, no problem at all, I understand. Stop reading now and come back at another time.

My mother (http://ineterhorst.wordpress.com/) was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 2011. It didn’t look good and we all feared that she would not be with us anymore within a year. She got radiation and chemo treatment and a little medical miracle happened: the cancer disappeared! Almost four months ago I was with her at the doctor for the Quarterly checkup when he told us that “there was no reason to assume there are any active cancer cells in her body”. We celebrated and life went back to normal after almost 2 years of “hassle”. Then she got terrible headaches two months ago that didn’t go away for weeks and just to be sure the doctor wanted to make an MRI scan of her head. Her head was okay, but they found a tumor on her upper cervical spine. This time the cancer had spread and a PET scan showed cancer at several places in her body. This news was given to her on her birthday in April. It was devastating news and the prospects are unknown and not good, but it is a matter of months the doctor said…

My world stopped turning for a moment…

On Dutch television I saw this commercial titled “live today” by a funeral insurance and services company, which inspired me to write this blog post. It’s message is: “Why wait with saying something nice if it can be done today?”.

Dear mom,

This blog is to tell you are the best mother I could have wished for. Although I didn’t make it easy for you when I was younger, you always supported me in everything I did. Even when things weren’t easy for yourself during your divorce or other setbacks, a simple request for help was enough to trigger you helping me over and over again. It didn’t matter if it was in the middle of the night, at the other side of the country or you had to prematurely terminate your holiday, you always came to my rescue! You did all that was in your power to give me and my brother everything we needed. Even when I started working and earning money, you kept buying stuff for us as presents or because you thought we might need it … Nothing was more important in the world than me and my brother. That might be a normal thing for many but I feel it is a very special thing to do and I want to thank you for that! There is so much more I want to say to you and I hope you stay around long enough to talk about all those things. You are the best mother I could ever wish for. Thank you for being my mother!

I love you!