My sister wasn’t always my best friend. When we were younger, we didn’t like each other—like, at all.
But as we grew older, she got married, and we started having children, something between us changed. We became more than sisters. We became friends—the kind who could hang out for hours and tell each other everything.
We laughed together, cried together, and prayed together.
She has always kept it real with me. She never sugarcoated a situation when I asked for her opinion, but she never judged me either. She would fight for me, and I would fight just as hard for her.
So, when I took her to the hospital for a hysterectomy, I believed that was all we were facing. But after ten long hours, the doctor came out and told me that my sister had Stage 3 cancer.
In that moment, my entire world became small.
I held my breath. Fear tried to take over, but then I told myself, “No. She needs me—all of me—not just the part of me that is terrified.”
She needed someone who would stand beside her and fight with her.
Sometimes it is hard for me to look at her because I can see the pain she is in. I wish more than anything that I could take it away from her. I wish I could carry it so she wouldn’t have to.
Next week, she will receive her last chemotherapy treatment.
Through it all, she has held her head high. Of course, she has had difficult moments—and she deserves to have them. Strength does not mean never crying, never becoming tired, or never feeling afraid. Sometimes strength is simply getting up and facing another day when your body and heart are exhausted.
Even now, I still see the sister I saw when we were children: one of the strongest people I have ever known.
We may not have always been best friends, but today, she is one of the greatest gifts God has given me. Cancer may have made our world feel smaller for a while, but it also reminded me just how powerful the love between two sisters can be.
She has fought with courage, faith, and grace—and I will continue fighting beside her every step of the way.
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