How do you show up for the people most important to you?

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, it was important for me to tell my grandparents in person. Since no one was allowed inside their retirement center because of the Coronavirus lockdown, I sat outside on their brick patio wall. They sat on the other side of the patio table as I told them the news. My grandma cried and my grandpa shook his head in disbelief. I know they would change places with me in a heartbeat if they could. They had loved me that way my entire life.

Throughout my treatment, we have had a handful of social distancing chats so they could see my progress and know that I’m okay. My grandpa sets out chairs in the lawn before we come so we have a place to sit and talk from the other side of the patio. Yesterday my niece, Harper, and I made a picture of a humming bird for my grandma. It’s always been one of her favorite birds.

Family is about showing up for each other. My grandparents can’t take away my cancer and I can’t end the Coronavirus that has kept them quarantined for 4 months straight, but we both can make the hard times just a little bit easier for each other❤️