My Mother, Who I Love. by Nenz Kyla

My Mother, Who I Love. by Nenz Kyla - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

It only took three words to send my world in a downward spiral. I was in the midst of silence as I gazed at the face of my beautiful mother. What was I supposed to feel in that moment in time? How was I supposed to react to the words, "I have cancer"? I had wondered why it took her a long time to say those words to me. When she told me I was glad she was able to open her heart and finally tell her children of the pain and suffering in her heart. There was nothing that I want than to hear those words because I knew in the bottom of my heart, I knew and was aware of that suffering. I kept it a secret from her, as she did for me. My mother had Multiple Myeloma, a type of cancer that would soon take my mother away from me.
My mother did not teach us that success comes from wealth and status. She lived her best life doing what she loved, becoming a hair and makeup stylist. From that she showed us what was important in our life was to follow what our hearts and dreams told us. It was a matter of time when death will come upon us that we should regret the life we fostered. Her way of showing love was subtle, there were no words of affection, but somehow we were unified through the awareness that her love was there. She provided us with a variety of opportunities when we moved to Oregon, USA. And given us presence to keep us grounded when we difficult times at school. She was pushing us to our full potential in life and gave us the truth about the real world. And that life would be hard, there would be obstacles that we need to overcome no matter what. Clearly, at that time we did not know that it would foreshadow the tragedy that would befall in our family.
All I could think about when I knew about her condition was that she had a limited amount of time. She was put into hospice care during my Junior Year. I prayed and prayed with tears that would continuously fall down my eyes that she would survive long enough to see all her children walk down that aisle in graduation. For her to be proud of her children and herself to see the children she had inspired to go through school. At least, make it known to her that her children would go through life and achieve their dreams and happiness. Because of her, we were able to see the wonders of life through her lenses. It