My Sacramental Moment

When you ask me, "describe a sacramental moment in your life," the first thing that comes to mind is a recent moment.

A week or two before finals, I called my grandma up, just like I do every week (at least I try to...). She told me that my aunt was going to take her to get her hair cut that week. I thought nothing of it, until she said, "not that it's going to matter, it'll be falling out soon anyways." I didn't know what to say, because first of all I had no idea what in the world she was talking about. And then she said, "I'll be starting my chemo next week. I guess I'll just have to start wearing hats or something." My stomach dropped. Nobody in my family had told me, and I guess that was one of the reasons I was so upset. I figured I would be one of the first people to know because she and I are so close. My mom explained to me that night that she and my dad didn't want me to know before finals, because they thought I'd be so upset and I wouldn't be able to focus. I guess it was a valid reason, so I understood.

That night, I cried my eyes out. I talked to my best friend via skype and not even she could say anything to make me feel better.

Though I don't really consider myself a very relgious person, and don't find myself praying that often, I had a nice long prayer to God that night. I asked him to help her get rid of her cancer as quick as possible, not that I had doubts that she would, because she's such a strong woman, which is one of the main reasons I look up to her so much. But every night I have been praying for her, I've been keeping her in my thoughts constantly.

Then, after finals were over, a few days before Christmas my mom gave me an update on her before we'd go to Chicago to see her. The oncologist said that she started with 8,900 cancer cells. (fun fact: everybody has about 35 cancer cells naturally) The result he wanted after her first round of chemo was for at least half of the cancer cells to be gone, so about 4,500. But she did way more than just cut it in half, she was down to 890 cancer cells.

I cried, but I cried tears of joy this time, because I know that God was listening to my prayers for my grandma, and he was answering them. Every night I thank him for what he's doing, but I could never thank him enough for the great things he does. He has reassured me that everything is going to be alright. :)