"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened” by Dr. Seuss, this quote can be used for many things; February 6, 2009, P.S. I Love You, Kerri Strug, "The Great Gatsby," The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, the death of Steve Irwin, and the song "For Good". But what do these things have to do with this quote? The answer is that all great events have sad or happy sad endings. This quote reminds us to remember what these people or ideas have taught and given us and to keep on learning from them.






February 6, 2009 is one day that I will never forget, and this is because it is the day that my grandma died of peritoneal cancer. My grandma was 72, out of all my grandparents she was the most active, whether it was line dancing, walking, or traveling to different places, she was always moving. So when I heard she had cancer, peritoneal cancer, I was devastated because I knew that she would be in a hospital bed for most of the time being. She was on bed rest after she went through surgery, and was allowed home for a week during December. But then things turned for the worst, she had infection and was swelling in her arms and had to go back to the hospital.

Peritoneal cancer is a rare cancer that develops in the peritoneum, a thin, delicate sheet that lines the inside wall of the abdomen and covers the uterus and extends over the bladder and rectum (Gynecologic Cancer). The thing about peritoneal cancer is that it’s hard to determine what it is because it acts (has similar symptoms) like ovarian cancer. Peritoneal cancer rarely shows any symptoms until the late stages, and even then they are rather ill-defined. Symptoms of this cancer can range from frequent urination, to nausea, diarrhea and constipation, weight loss or gain for no apparent reason, lack of appetite, and even lower abdominal pain (Riitters). The causes of peritoneal cancer are unknown. Like most types of cancer, it is more common in older people (Primary Peritoneal Cancer).

I had a lot of support from a wide range of people during this time. I needed as much help as possible because I didn’t know how to deal with such a tragedy. What I learned during this time was to keep an open-mind to the help I was given, even if I didn’t like what I was being told. The advice that stuck in my mind the most though was to never forget traditions and to keep on commemorating on all the good things that we use to do. To keep traditions going is what I am going to do for my grandma; to keep on remembering her shows that I will keep growing from the things she has taught me.