My Mother

Antoinette Molina carried her engagement ring and her marriage ring. Her two silver
diamond rings were worn on her left hand. She married to her husband Enrique Molina in 2000.
They had many similarities, but also many differences. They balanced each other personalities
out perfectly, making them the perfect balance. Recently, they just reached their 20th anniversary
of marriage.
She carried her grey Sony camcorder. She always valued capturing the moment and
the memories it brought. She took her camcorder everywhere, for the first few years of her
children’s life. She would record her children’s childhood, to keep the memories on film. She
filmed over hundreds of moments on her camcorder and would download these moments onto
the computer. She stopped using the camcorder when she bought her first iPhone. Now, her
iPhone has all her photos and videos.
She carried her black tote bag. In this tote bag, she carried all her necessities such as her
phone, her wallet, her medicine and more. She liked the style of the bag and being able to put her
necessities in it. Having her purse with her, brought her comfort.
She carried her happiness. She was a married to her husband, Enrique Molina, and had a
beautiful family. She had four children and was content with life. She was filled with so much
happiness being able to watch her children grow up, and to be the mother of them. She found out
all the joys of motherhood, such as the capacity to love and the importance of a healthy
marriage.
However, this all changed when she received terrifying news. She carried her fear/ worry.
In 2008, she found out that she had thyroid cancer. She had to have surgery to remove her
thyroid, along with 140 lymph nodes also being removed. However, there were some
complications during her treatment, and she had to spend a week in the ICU. One day, her
calcium levels had dropped, and her body went into tetany. She felt only her heart racing, as she
was surrounded by doctors. At one moment, she felt at peace as she felt herself leave the scene.
She found herself in the living room and was watching my siblings and I play.
Before she found herself back at the hospital, all her worry kicked back in. She was filled
with the horror that she could possibly die and immediately thought of her children. What if she
didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to her children? Although her children were very young at
the time, the thought of them growing up without a mother, brought her great pain. She also
thought about her husband. She did not want to put the pain on him of having to raise four
children by himself and losing the love of his life. Thinking of this, she made one simple request
to God: to please let her stay.
Moments later, she found herself again in the hospital, fully conscious of what was going
on around her. The doctors were able to handle the complications and treat her.
Thus, she also carried gratitude. She carried gratitude that God decided to let her stay on
earth with her husband and children. She is grateful that the doctors were able to handle the
complications and heal her. She is grateful that she has many more years to come, raising a
family with her husband.

Changes
1. I added how my mom used the camcorder to capture special moments of my siblings
and I’s childhood and explained how she enjoyed the memories of it.
2. I tried to show how my mom valued motherhood and her marriage through the
things she carried, to show how her cancer was conflict.