In 2004, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I was 3 years old at the time, so I didn't truly understand what it meant. All I knew was that Mama took lots of naps with me, went away once every few weeks for a full day to the doctors, and that she lost her hair.

None of this seemed strange to me. She was my mom, and after a while she regained some colour, stopped going away for long periods of time, and eventually it felt like everything would go back to normal. 

Mama was one of the lucky ones. Her illness was caught early and I still have her today (pictured at my university convocation). I am forever grateful to my mother for fighting so hard to come back home to me and my siblings. I will always have a place in my heart for the doctors, nurses, and staff that helped her on her long, hard chemo days. 

I'm running for the cure to make sure that other kids are as lucky as I have been. Please donate what you can, every dollar counts.