Every time I saw her she looked thinner, weaker, and older. Her bright, smiling, laughing, vibrant soul and personality had been replaced by something that was broken. The twinkle that had sparkled in her eyes was fading and all I could see was sadness and misery. The cancer had taken over. Spreading from her kidney's to her brain. My mother had been through 21 operations & dozens of different chemotherapy treatments. All of them failed. Now all we had left was a date. 2 months.

2 months. 8 weeks. 56 days. 1344 hours. 8064 seconds.

My sisters and I spend most of our time in hospital by her side. Bianca (boo) draws pictures for her; they get put on the walls and Boo smiles, babbling to mother about her day at school and how much fun she had. She strokes mom's hair and whispers to her, "Don't worry mommy they'll fix you." She's only six. She doesn't understand. Naiya on the other hand, is old enough to work out that mother might not be coming home. She's 13. I hear her at night, crying. I go in her room and comfort her, holding her close, telling her to be brave, to be strong. Out of us all, my father has been hit by all this the worst. He's not eating or sleeping, he's cut himself off from his friends and lives in the hospital, sleeping beside her. I'd been left to take care of Boo and Naiya and pick up the pieces that were beginning to fall from a broken mirror.

A mirror that once broken couldn't ever be fixed. The shards of glass able to leave a scar, a lasting memory.

It's been almost a year since we received the news that tore our family apart, ripped the hope we had to shreds. We were told recently that mother only had 2 months to live because the cancer was so bad. At this point I felt my life meant nothing. That I was walking in a dream. Nothing was real. Nothing. That I'd wake up and smell the pancakes mom had cooked and go down stairs to see her face smiling at me full of love and life. But that was the dream I had when I slept. Only to wake up another day gone, another part of my mother slipping away and so little time left. You know you don't really appreciate time until your losing someone dear to you. You want to go back and cherish every moment; maybe help out that little bit more or tell them you love them that little bit extra.

Boo appeared in the doorway of mother's hospital room, clutching Mr. Snuggles, her favorite blanket close to her chest. I held out my arms, she walked over & I pulled her onto my lap. "Is mommy coming home soon?" Her big brown eyes looked up at me, curious, inquisitive and confused. "Mommy has to go away for a while." "Like on holiday?" She smiled. I look across at mother sleeping, looking so ill & fought to hold back the tears. "Yes, on holiday." "Well, when will she be back?" Her innocent eyes searched mine as if looking for answers, she had no idea. "Not for a while Boo, but she's going somewhere nice. Now run along and go find Naiya and dad. Ok?" "Yes Lou-Lou!" With that she slipped off my lap and skipped off down the corridor, her shoes squeaking on the shiny surface, I wiped a stray tear of my cheek.

I looked over at my mother and moved the chair beside her bed. "Did you hear that? She thinks you're going on holiday…..You know I always thought you'd be here…..To see Boo's first day at high school, Naiya's prom, all our wedding's and your grandchildren." Tears began to flow from my eyes and run down my cheeks. "I always thought…..that it would never happen to us. You hear about all these people who have gone through the same, and it never occurs that it might happen. Now you're leaving us…...You're leaving me. I need you mom." I buried my head into the sheets and grabbed her hand and began to cry.