WHY I RIDE

My name is Erika and I am 13 years old. Although an abundance of people in my life have been diagnosed with cancer afacting me and my family I ride for my mother Alicia Wrob. Before I was born my mom battled thyroid cancer three times and won. She was cancer free for almost 15 years when suddenly,out of nowhere she was diagnosed again. It was a scare for all of us and the cancer got the best of her at times. She would get angry at little things that she would have never noticed before. I remember going to our favorite weekend getaway, a cozy cottage nestled away in saint Louis city. We used to always have the greatest times there but, this time she would not quit screaming at us. Also, she felt down so she didn't want to get out in do anything. We were devastated, our cute bed in breakfast that we had Cherished our time at was quickly escalated into a monstrous place full of argument.needless to say, me and my twin sister Haley were glad to go to our dads and get a break from her the fallowing weekend. After what seemed like forever and a world of worrying we were finally blessed with the amazing news that through our moms miraculous treatment she was finally completely cancer free!!! I would love to tell you that this maricall lasted but shortly after this the doctors came back with some sad news. I remember vividly my mom pulling both me and my sister into my room and told us what was going on, and we could tell something was going on because family had been in and out for the past few day. She was rediagnosed with stage four breast cancer and this time it was spread to her liver and brain. Later that week my dad showed up at my moms house(which was very rare since they never really got along) and they got together and told us the whole truth. Our moms cancer was fatal, meaning she was going to die. And she only had 1 year to live. I was sad but it wasn't hitting me, I never cried. Soon enough there was family at my house every day. All my mom wanted was a break but no one would let her have one, they wanted to cherish thief last moments with her. They wanted all the memory's they could get. But one week very hesitantly,they agreed. They set up a date and it was all us and our mom could think about for the coming weeks. But, sadly she went downhill fast just about a week before our girls time. She was quickly in the ER with a extremely bloated liver and excruciating stomach pains. About three days later she was out of the hospital but things were diferent. My mom was on a ton of pain killers and was using a walker. What would normally be our dining room was now kept our moms hospital bed and portable toilet in case she needed to pee. Our moms words became more and more slurred and soon enough she couldn't talk. She could no longer breath on her own and she used a oxygen tank. Her stomach got so bloated she looked like she was pregnant with twins!again! I got to say goodbye to my mom many times that week but I never got the chance to have a girls night. We never got the right goodbye. It is kind of sad, I can hardly remember my mom when she was not sick or on a million pain meds. Alicia k wrob died 9/23/16 and this years Taste the cause is the anniversary of when she died so excuse me if you see me balling my eyes out. So please, tonight I hope you have someone new in your prayers.