What Easter Means To Me

Every year I go up north to visit family for Easter. It's where my mother was from and a lot of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and my grandmother still live there. Also it's where my mother is buried. She passed away on April 4th, so it's easy to remember that she passed around Easter.  I also visit up north in the fall in late September or early October as that is when her birthday is. It's also interesting to note that my mother passed from ovarian cancer, and that if she hadn't died when she did, a lot more of my relatives may have died. After describing the lump in her belly to her sister (my aunt), my aunt found a smaller lump in the same area. My aunt got tested and sure enough it was cancer, and went through surgery and chemo. My cousin got tested as well, and when hers came back positive she when one step further and had a test done to isolate the gene, she was young enough that there was no lump and just had her ovaries removed. So this cancer was genetic. So far most of the family has gotten tested, and the chance of having this cancer gene is 50/50. Last year I finally got tested, two years after my mom's passing. And I'm fine; my chances of having cancer are the same as that of the average person. But what my mother's passing did, if not save half the family from a potential cancer gene, she also brought me back to my loved ones up north. I had been neglecting to go up and visit them for ten to fifteen years, only for special occasions like say a wedding, or a funeral as when my grandfather passed. But there is so much that I have missed not visiting them for so long, there are other cousins that have moved away and I may never see again, my cousins children that I may never know, so now I make it a habit to go up twice a year.