Never Too Old to Want My Mommy
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Caregivers  
By Tiffany Mannino

A mother’s arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.
~Victor Hugo

December 16, 2009, was the worst day of my mother’s life. It was the day I told her that her 36-year-old daughter had stage III breast cancer. I will never forget the look of devastation in her tear-filled eyes as I told her. Seeing my mother sob uncontrollably broke my heart. It was one of the few times in my life that I saw my mother weak and vulnerable.

Since I had been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, the doctors had a heavy-duty plan of attack to beat it, which would mean a double mastectomy, five months of chemotherapy, ovary obliteration, and five weeks of radiation. It also meant that a fiercely independent single girl who lived alone was in serious need of some help taking care of herself. (Keep reading)