Whatever you say about Mom’s passing, don’t say she “lost her battle with cancer.” Saying she lost implies it was a fair fight. This was not.

When she first got her diagnosis over two years ago, I did what most people would do… I consulted the foremost experts… also known as the internet.

My heart sank. Words like “serious” “incurable” and “terminal” filled the screen.

When I called her back, she was so upbeat about finally having a diagnosis. I thought for sure the doctors sugar-coated it. I was wrong. She even told me the oncologist called it one of the “baddies.”

Despite knowing the outcome was inevitable, for over two years she managed to go extra innings with an unrelenting, insidious monster. And she did it with joy and optimism. You see, along with her cancer she had an incurable hope.

Mom never lost her battle; she took control of an overwhelming situation.

In the end she didn’t lose, she gave. She gave us more memories, more laughs, more meals together. She gave us more time to come to terms with what we were about to lose.

And she did it her way. I'm so proud of you Mom!