My mum, Elaine, was on the cusp of 35 when she was told that she had an aggressive cancer that was discovered during an emergency c-section to deliver my late brother, William.

I was 3 and my sister, Tiffany, was 5 when mum passed in January of 1994 - a week before her 36th birthday.

In honour of reaching the age that my mother never got to celebrate, please join me in donating to the Cancer Research Society to benefit our friends, family, and loved ones who have or will experience cancer in their lifetime, so that they may continue to blow out candles for years to come.

While I don't have many memories of my mother; her spark, humour, and love for her friends and family live on through their stories and in old photo albums. It is my biggest wish for when I go to leave behind even a fraction of the love, happiness, and laughter that my mum did in her short life. Though losing a mother is tough at any age, I want to acknowledge the love, care, patience, and support that my beautiful bonus mom, Manon, has shown me through the years.

So, in honour of Elaine, thank you for contributing to a cause so close to my heart.

Soft push to go tell your mom- whatever biological or chosen form they may come in - that you love them.

Thank you again.

Love,

Emily

p.s. 10 years ago, for my last project at university, I made a short film about discovering my mum through her family's eyes - her and her life were largely mysteries to me until this project.

I've never shared it publically (mostly because I found it profoundly vulnerable), but she is worth stepping out of my comfort zone for:

I hope you enjoy it.

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More information about Canadian Cancer Society: For 80 years, the Cancer Research Society (CRS) has been an undisputed leader in the field of cancer research, supporting thousands of research projects. We are a pan-Canadian, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to exclusively fund research into all types of cancer in order to prevent, detect and treat the disease. For more information, please visit https://cancerresearchsociety.ca/