I wanted to have children and play with them even when I was a little girl myself. No wonder when I had children of my own, I loved painting, walking and playing with them until cancer happened. The shock of being diagnosed of Breast Cancer, Stage III at the age of 29, took some fun out of me. Chemotherapy, surgery, picking up broken pieces of life, dealing with relationships, managing finances and other challenges that come with cancer took its toll and I was not the same person I used to be. Somehow the fun activities were pushed into background, despite the fact that I was always there as a caretaker for my kids. Though not a big deal, coping with total hair loss was tough on me and so was losing the symmetry of my body.
One day my son, who was sitting alone and creating some painting on his own asked me, "Maa, is our lives changed forever? Can we never paint together again?” That was the day I snapped out of my self-pitying role and climbed out of the pit. Nothing was going to stop me from having fun and living my life, especially I was determined not to allow Cancer to steal the love and enjoyment I could share with my children.
It was time again for long walks, games, carom, book reading, and off course painting.
This picture is my favorite photograph because it was captured unknown to us, when we were drowned creating our masterpiece and were totally unaware of the world around us. This still inspires me to snap out of tough times, as I had done earlier. It tells me that happiness lies in small things we enjoy with our family. Since then I have never allowed anything to stop me from having fun and enjoying life to the fullest. It gives me hope and tells me the battle we fight in our lives are really worth it.
