Ode to Erica

I have a story that I feel like I need to share with everyone.

Seven years ago, my cousins and I were sitting around in Aunt Cheri's kitchen talking about our weird bodies. My cousin Erica (who is 5 years older than me) laughed about how she has a "double elbow." Her left elbow had this large bump you could see if she turned her arm a certain way. We all laughed and called her a freak and went on our ways.

Fast forward a couple months. I was sitting at my parent's kitchen table and my mom told me that Erica has a lump in her arm that is growing and she is going to get it checked out. My self-preservation mode kicked in. "No big deal" I said, "that kind of this is pretty normal!"

Fast forward about three weeks. I was in eighth grade. My brother was having a party/BBQ with all of his cool high school friends. It was warm outside and we were out on the deck (it was almost summer). The phone rings and my mom goes inside and stays there. My dad tells Christopher and me to come inside for a little bit and, of course, I think nothing of it. My mom tells Christopher and me to sit down because she has "something to tell us." Now I'm starting to worry. "Erica has cancer" she says.

I remember that moment so vividly. I even remember the smell -- I could smell the lilacs picked from our lilac bush that were sitting on the kitchen table. I could hear everyone talking outside, laughing and having a great time. I wanted to scream. My cousin had cancer and the rest of the world was going on enjoying themselves. I recited the line in my head again, "Erica has cancer" and then I heard two people laughing. To this day I still remember who those two people are that laughed because for a brief moment, I hated them more than anything in the world.

At the time, Erica was a student at Notre Dame-the school she has always wanted to go to. She didn't get to go back the next year. She stayed home and went through intense chemotherapy. I wasn't around very much that year. I was too scared to be near her, but I remember the battle. I remember when she lost her hair and her brother's shaved their heads. I remember when she was admitted into the hospital time after time because her immune system was so weak even a common cold could kill her. But more than anything else, I remember her being so strong. I remember seeing her laugh and hearing stories of jokes they told in the hospital room.

Erica was a fighter and she won. Five years ago we went to Pompei (a great resturant downtown) and reserved our own room to throw a party for her. She was cancer free and done with treatments.

She went back to Notre Dame and finished school. After school she spent a year downtown volunteering at Mercy Home, this place for delinquint/troubled (or whatever you want to call them) boys. After that she went to law school at Northwestern. She's always wanted to be a lawyer and Erica always does what she wants to do. She spent a semester studying in Australia and she spent some time in Africa studying African law.

Erica graduated on Sunday. I went to her graduation and then the big party at pompei. I am really proud of my cousin. I admire her more than anyone else I know. She has been an inspiration to me to live my life to the fullest and the way that I want to do it. She also has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. Not to mention, she is really fun and knows how to have a good time! :)

So Erica, congratulations. I am proud of you and I love you.