Olivia, Canada
I was five years old when my mum passed away from breast cancer. At that age, I didn't fully understand what was happening: why she got weaker, why her bra looked funny when she wore it, and why everyone around me whispered in hushed voices. But I knew on the day she passed, what it meant. All of a sudden I knew.
I don't really remember much about my mum, all I have are fake memories made from photographs, videos, stories from the people who knew her and loved her. I just hope that somehow, despite not really understanding why everything that was happening was happening, I was grateful for my mum. I hope I was grateful for the little things, like holding her hand, her kissing me goodnight, doing my hair. And even if I wasn't grateful for those things at the time, I am so grateful now that I did get to experience those things with her, as there are many who lose their loved ones to cancer without getting to experience moments like those.
After she was gone, I kept looking for her. Even deluding myself into thinking it was all a mistake, and she hadn't actually died, only fallen asleep, and she was out there, looking to reunite with us again. Even though I quickly got over that, I still look for her everywhere. In my own reflection, in the music I listen to that I know she liked, in the photo I keep on my desk.
As I grew older, I learned more about cancer - unfortunately losing more loved ones to it. I learned how it can take so much, so quickly. But I also learned some things that can never be taken. My mum's love didn't disappear with her illness. It stayed with me, in the few memories I do have, in the stories my family and her friends tell me, and especially in the strength she showed even when she was in pain.
On this World Cancer Day, the 15 year anniversary of my mum passing, I share her story not just as a memory, but as a promise - to honour the love she left behind, to fight for a future where fewer children lose their parents too soon, and to remind others that even in loss, love lasts forever.