Contest Entries

Submitted by: Michele Gibson

I can not write this in fifty words, I hope you will continue to read. I have attempted to make it as short as possible. It is a story about a girl, a boy and their war on breast cancer. I am not writing for myself, I am writing for my niece Amy and her fiancé, Dan. When Amy was barely 18 years old, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She endured chemo and radiation while attending Buffalo State. The cancer tried to steal her spirit but Amy fought like hell and won. After some time, her hair grew back and the sparkle returned to her big brown eyes. Amy met Dan, who is now the love of her life and she is his. They are good souls. The two moved to Chicago so Amy could complete grad school and an internship while Dan worked. After graduation, Dan proposed to Amy. Amy secured a job and now it was Dan’s turn to pursue his masters. She went shopping with her mom, bought the dress of her dreams. Life was good for them, going as planned. This past November, Amy found another lump. She flew home to Roswell, where whispers of “the baby being back” filled the hallways. Amy was the youngest patient they had treated for her type of breast cancer seven years ago. On December 2nd she had a double masectomy. Amy is only 26 years young. In speaking with her after she received the news, all she wanted was to wear her wedding gown. I want her to stay alive and she wants wear a dress. Amy had been growing her hair longer than usual so she could have it styled just so on her big day scheduled for July 31st. Amy will have no hair because of the chemotherapy and the gown of her dreams won’t hide the numerous scars. Given Dan was still in school during all this, he needed to fly back and forth from Buffalo to Chicago several times as he couldn’t bear not to be by her side. The airlines stated that the fares were so reasonable they wouldn’t give him any discounts on flying. Amy’s mother and father are traveling back and forth to Chicago now to assist Amy during her chemotherapy. She is receiving the treatment in Chicago because traveling back and forth to Roswell is not safe for Amy because her immune system is greatly compromised. We are not a rich family and I can not bear to see my niece in so much pain, physically and mentally. My sister and brother in law have been saving for Amy’s wedding as she is their only daughter. Co-pays, deductibles, air fare and loss of wages are slowly eating everyone’s savings away. A great burden would be lifted and a wonderful gift would be given if they didn’t have to worry about Amy & Dan having the wedding of their dreams. Amy and Dan deserve to win the Ultimate Wedding because all the visions Amy and Dan had dancing in their head about their future together vanished with four simple words: “the cancer is back”. They need something wonderful to remember and a future to hold on to. For them, everything has fallen, but their love still stands.

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