Round Two-creative essay

ok I think this is the only one we're supposed to put on here. This is the latest story I rewrote. I stemmed from Shari's essay which was based on Monique's essay about Cancer. Shari's story was very similar to Monique's sticking with the same family member-the mother-having cancer. I tried to switch it up a little and left the topic of cancer, but flipped the viewpoint a little going from a child looking on a parent with cancer, to my story, a parent looking on a child with cancer. so here it is:

The doctors told us she wouldn’t even last a year. But we refused to believe it. She was only four. How could it be that this precious little angel could have leukemia? Ava was the happiest four-year-old in the world. Not a care in the world. Her smile could light up a room in a split second. She was my baby. And she was a fighter.

My husband and I had been trying to have a baby for a long time. And after two miscarriages, it finally happened. It was a tough pregnancy. Ava was born premature and with many health problems that go along with it. But she survived. She never once gave up. Even as a baby, I could tell that she as a fighter. As she got bigger, she just got more beautiful. Everyone that came in contact with her left with the biggest smile because when Ava smiled, everyone smiled. She was so full of life and energy…almost too much energy. I was always chasing her around the house when my husband was at work. When I was with her I felt like I was young again too.

It was almost two years ago when I received a phone call. On the line was Ava’s dance teacher.

“Yes, ok I’ll be right there,” I said.

Her teacher told me Ava had become very dizzy during class and she was worried about her. Ava never stopped. She loved to dance. It was her favorite thing to do. If there was music playing, Ava was dancing to it. It wasn’t like Ava to get tired and have to sit out. So I rushed her to the hospital. After hours of tests, the doctors came to speak to my husband and me.

“It’s leukemia,” the doctor said. I froze. It was as if the entire world had stopped at that one moment. I didn’t hear or see anything around me. All I could do was picture my sweet, innocent little girl losing her beautiful, coco brown hair. I yelled at the doctor. “What do you mean leukemia? She’s four years old! She doesn’t have leukemia. You read the tests wrong!” My husband held me back and told me to listen. As the doctor explained Ava’s condition I felt the tears coming. He left the room and I sat with my husband and cried for what seemed like hours. The thought of losing my precious girl was unbearable.

We left and took Ava home. The doctors told us that her condition was so far along that there wasn’t much they could do. They told us the best thing to do was let her stay home and live life the best she could. They did give her a few medications to try to give her a little more time. But that’s it. I just couldn’t fathom how this could be possible. With all the medications and advancements there were in this day and age all they could come up with was some stupid pills to give her maybe an extra month or two? I was furious. But I wouldn’t let that hinder me from spending this time with my daughter.

My husband took a leave from work and we moved in with his parents so we could call spend these last few months together. I remember the day she died like it was yesterday. I fell asleep in Ava’s bed with her the night before after reading her favorite book to her. I woke up and looked into her lifeless face and realized it was over. She had been strong, but the cancer prevailed. This evil disease stole my baby from me like a kidnapper would yank a child at a supermarket. I will never forget that day.

A parent is not supposed to bury their child. But I did. And I will never forget her. She was only four, but Ava left a huge impact on every life she came in contact with. Now I know she’s looking down on us from a better place, and she’s smiling. Her little sister just turned a year old and already asks questions about her older sister. She never met her, but she’s so proud of her. I think God blessed me with this child to help me heal. I will always have two daughters. One of them is just watching over me, instead of the other way around.