This is Jackie she is my sister-in-law she was married to my husbands oldest brother.She lost her battle with breast cancer at a very young age she was in her mid 30's.The mother of two small children at the time. Her cancer started in the breast and moved throughout her entire body. It was horrible to see her suffer through it and not be able to help her. Jackie was one of the best people I have ever known and I have yet to meet anyone like her. The very first time I met her I felt like I had known her my whole life. I only had the privilege of knowing her for 3 years but she made an impression on me that will last a lifetime. Her kids are teens now and I can see her in their faces.She would be so very proud of them and how they have grown to be amazing young adults.
This is my mother-in-law Carmella her friends called her Chippy. When I first met her she scared the crap out of me. She was a strong stubborn woman if she liked you then you were golden if she didn't then you had better run. Of course I did become golden after the birth of my son lol She loved my son more than anything in this world and she let all of us know that he held a special place in her heart.She called him dueboy because when he was a baby his hands were always moving like he was doing something. So she would say there he goes again my little dueboy. They had a special connection his face would light up whenever she came into the room. Their bond lasted right up until the end. When she found out that her breast cancer had come back after 5 years of remission and spread like wildfire throughout her body she insisted on being the one to tell her dueboy.I hated to see this woman I had come to love as much as my own mom suffer like she did. Once the cancer took hold it was a quick ugly thing to see. Not her of course but what the disease was doing to her. It got so bad that we wouldn't let the kids come to see her because we wanted them to remember her the way she used to be not the person this cancer turned her into. The pain she went through was to me unnecessary why does it have to be so painful why do they have to suffer so much? She went into the hospital the third week in December and she died on Christmas night in 2005. I was sad to have lost her but at the same time glad to know that she wouldn't have to suffer any more. This Christmas is going to be the third one without her and it is hard to be happy on such a sad day.
We love and miss both of them very much........
