remembering Patrocinia

By: Alexis A.

At the start of a young age when I was around 4 years old, my mom was someone who would always be there for me. When I was 4 in my very first soccer game, my whole team ran off the field crying right when we heard the whistle because it was out first actual game and of course I went to my mom and she made me feel better. She told me that it's okay and she just held me until I felt good enough to go back on the field.

When I started elementary school I remember my mom would always get me ready and we would drink coffee together before I watched tv.

As I started growing up around the age of 10 was when I realized that my mom was one of my biggest supporters. When I started to play in a club for soccer I would have games that were far from home and even up to three games a weekend, and you know who was always there? My mom.

My mom would always be on the sideline cheering me on and telling me that I am doing amazing. When I would do a save I would see her get happy and excited for me because they didn’t score on me. She would say “dale mijo tu si puedes” which means go son you can do it or “ tu le ganas” which means you can beat him.

As I got into high school I wasn’t able to spend as much time with my mom. But nonetheless our bond just ended up getting stronger instead of worse. Since we weren't about to spend as much time together we would try to do something every time we had time.

For example, we would watch movies, go out and eat or just do whatever comes to our mind at that moment.

One of my favorite things to do with my mom is when she would be cooking and listening to music. When I would walk by the kitchen we would always dance to the song that was playing while laughing and it was such an amazing time.

Going on with my junior year around September 2020 my mom slowly started to get sick but we didn’t know what it was. Over time she got more and more sick so we kept taking her to doctor appointments, but they couldn’t figure out what it was.

Once it got to around mid november she wasn’t able to get out of the bed by herself; she always needed someone there with her to take care of her and help her get out of bed. So we all had shifts to take care of my mom.

I would have night shift, my dad would have morning shift, my brother would have afternoon shift, and my sister would take care of her when she was able to visit.

Going into January we made her cake for her bday and she enjoyed it, but a couple days later we got some horrible news. It was Jan 6th when we got the phone call from her doctor telling us that she has stage 4 lung cancer, liver cancer, and bone cancer.

When we found that out all of us just went down. But we couldn’t stay down there because we need my mom to know that we are here for her to help her stay strong.

As time went on I wouldn’t focus on school as much because my mom was more important so I would hang out with her but always with a smile on my face because I didn’t want her to see me cry because of what happened.

Once it got to February she got very sick and wasn’t able to talk as much or do much because of the pain so we took her to the hospital and she was there for 2 whole days but she didn’t want to be there anymore. So we asked if she could go home with us and have a doctor come everyday and they let us.

Once she got back home from the hospital family would come and visit her and she would be happy to see her aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and siblings.

She wasn’t able to eat as much so we had to make her shakes and drinks that will give her all the nutrients that she needed that day.

It was a friday night and me and my sister were taking care of my mom that night. My mom was asleep but we needed to stay awake so we were playing monopoly but then she started coughing a lot. So we called her doctor and we were told to give her medicine so we did that and she calmed down.

It was around 2am my sister fell asleep and I was there taking care of my mom then my dad came in and it was time for me to go to sleep. As I got in my room my sister came in crying telling me and my brother that my mom has passed away.

It was the worst pain that I have ever felt in my life but with all the help from family and friends, especially from my girlfriend Cari, I was able to get through it.

Even though she is not here physically she will always be with me no matter where I go. She will still continue to be the most amazing mother out there in the world.

Te amo con todo mi corazón.

For The Warrior Times, this is Alexis Abrego