When my dad got diagnosed with Lymphoma for the second time my sophomore year of high school, my world felt like it was over. I would scour medical sites looking up death rates and life spans of people with the same disease sending my mind into a spiral. I thought my life was over, but I could show my little siblings or my mom how much this was affecting me. I stopped eating and stopped playing soccer. The only thing I did was go to school and sleep, becoming an endless cycle of depression.

My uncle noticed I was off and told me something that forever changed my life: “you don’t want someone’s last memories of you to be at your lowest”. It made me realize I had to be my best self because that was who my dad would want me to be. Sadness can tear you down but fighting it with happiness and love for others is how you overcome the hardships of a parent with cancer. I would help my mom take my siblings places while my dad was at chemo, I got a part time job, and I made sure that I was taking care of myself too. My dad is now 4 years cancer free and the thing he told me that helped him most was seeing his kids happy while he was down. Of course everyone handles things differently, but your joy and love can help make the coping easier, especially for those who are suffering.