Most people can say their childhood was a great one. Most can say they went on adventures, but I went through events that most people don’t go through and hope they never have to. I have had a very different life than most people. I have been through tough times but also good times, which made me the person I am today. My name is Claria. I am now 30 years old, and this is my life story.
When I was just four years old I got diagnosed with lung cancer and this made a big impact on my life. This news is what no kid should have to go through. When I got told the news it’s one of those things where you wish you were sleeping, but I wasn’t. It was real. I felt like I died that day. I know I was 4 at the time, but I still understood.
We started chemo that day, but I never got to go home until I was cancer free. The doctors told me I would lose my hair. That’s when it hit me this was real. I wanted my parents to shave my hair. It made me feel better, but as soon they were done my dad shaved his hair in honor of me. This made me tear up and leaned into my ear and told me we were in this together. It got late and my parents couldn’t stay the night, but my mom leaned over to my bed and said, “Tough time makes tough people.” That’s when I knew I could beat this. Then every night before I went to bed my mom, dad and me would all pray for hours. I felt relief and comfort.
On my sixth birthday I got the news I was cancer free! I couldn’t believe it– I could live a normal life! My family and my doctors walked me down the hall to the bell, which I have heard rung before from other patients, but this was my turn. I took that mallet and hit it so hard the whole hospital could hear it. At this point I knew I did it and I beat it. When I got home, my whole family was there. We had a party knowing my whole family was there by my side during this time was the best thing I could ask for.
. . .
When I turned 16 I thought my life would turn around, but I was mistaken. My dad got taken from me when I was just 16. Most kids my age don’t know what it is like to not see your family for months, but when you do get to see them it only for a little bit then the cycle starts over.
Last time I saw my dad it was about six months ago but I remember, “He was dog tags, boots, and Army green.” I always support my dad but I’ve always worried about him. I just wish I could know where he was going. All I could know is he was, “Shipped off somewhere to keep us all free.” It had been many months since I had seen him or heard so my mom and I started to worry. Days and months went by nothing then came the day I could never forget. I remember hearing a knock on the door. My mom went to answer it and I was right behind her. It was two men in Army green holding a box– that’s when I knew my dad was gone. I didn’t want to believe it, but I had to because this was real.
The next few years of my life were the hardest. My dad was one of my biggest supporters with everything I did. I became lost without him. I started to skip school; I didn’t see my friends for years. I had many missed calls. I wanted to block out the real world, because I didn’t want to accept reality. But then one morning I woke up just like a normal morning, my senior year my mom really wanted me to go. I didn’t know why at the time, but I went to please her. This school day was different. People were coming up to me that I hadn’t seen in years and were crying tears of joy to know I was ok. I got to first period, but I wasn’t in there for long because the seniors had an assembly. When I got down in the auditorium I could hear a lot of talking and it was something I hadn’t heard in a long time. When the assembly started it was a single speaker talking about his life, which was almost like mine. I became interested. He lost his father too, but in a different way. He became lost like I did– he had hard times like I did, but he kept repeating, “tough times make tough people.” I would never forget that. But his way of dealing with his loss was telling the world about what he went through and reminding people to never give up.
From that day on my life was changed forever. I listened to that speaker and I am now telling people about my life, the highs and lows and good and the bad. I do wish I heard that message sooner but at least I heard it. Like I said, I’m 30 years old now and I am changing people’s lives.
Story influenced by Drew Baldrige’s “Tough People”
