If I remember correctly, my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer around 2016-2017. I had just started middle school, still a kid fresh out of elementary, and being told that your mom had cancer is something no child should ever have to face.

At first, it was overwhelming. Panic, fear, confusion. Honestly, I didn’t believe it was real. But my mom was different. she never gave up. She stayed hopeful, and I think it’s because she knew how deeply she was loved and how many people were standing by her, ready to support her no matter what.

My mom had always dreamed of having three children. Having eight siblings growing up, she missed the feeling of constant laughter, tiny footsteps walking around, and the bond of siblings growing up side by side. So after her first child, me, she was ready to keep building that dream.

But fate turned her luck around. Not long after me, she began feeling unwell—subtle aches, fatigue she couldn’t shake. At first, she ignored it, thinking it was nothing. But as the symptoms worsened, she went to the doctor, hoping for reassurance. Instead, she got the news that would change everything: ovarian cancer.

Growing up, my sister and I were never very close—there was a big age gap between us. She was fourteen years older, already working while I was still in school.I remember when she fainted for the first time. I was worried, but I couldn’t give it much thought… I was about to enter the most stressful two years of my life in Junior College. 

For the first two months, my parents didn’t tell me. They wanted me to focus on my studies, to protect me from the weight of what was happening. I remember sitting in my room, studying for my finals. My dad came in, tears in his eyes. That’s when he broke the news, my sister had M3 Leukemia. 

When I found out, I was in shock. It didn’t feel real. I remember feeling angry, why didn’t they tell me before? But what they were about to say next was even worse, the only reason they told me was because they needed to prepare me to be her bone marrow transplant donor. 

It all begins with an idea.