Gone, but never forgotten

“I could see the universe in your eyes,

Anytime you would smile or laugh.

You were an Angel disguise.

No wonder why heaven took you back.

You had the power to heal within your finger tips.

Everything you touched turned to gold.

You could’ve moved masses of people with the words resting between your lips.

It’s such a shame you already had to go…”

- Leyla Simmons

My name is Leyla, I’m 19 years old, and the oldest sibling of three. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the past few years of my life, it’s that there are only limited things in life that are of priority. Things like time and family. I hadn’t understood the concept of this, until life took turns for the worst, changing my family life and me forever.

Around Christmas of 2012, we unexpectedly lost our father who was active duty in the Marine Corps, leaving us as a gold star surviving family, and my mom as a widow and single mother to three underaged children. Through the heartbreak she found the strength to push forward and tried her hardest to create us a beautiful life. Despite anything she might have been feeling, she would always make sure we had the best — whether it was traveling around the world with us, attending all our recitals, throwing the biggest birthday celebrations for us, or simply cooking amazing meals three times a day. We had it all, hence why we never saw this next chapter coming.

In the fall of 2020, our mom fell ill. From one moment to another, she was diagnosed with a very rare cancer. Stage 4 Yolk Sack Germ Cell Ovarian Cancer. While already trying to adjust to the drastic changes of the pandemic, she was immediately admitted to the hospital without any of us being allowed to visit her. While she was there, she started a strong and invasive chemotherapy treatment that goes by the name of BEP (Bleomycin, Etoposide, Platinum). Months into it, she had already completed a lifetime worth of this type of chemotherapy treatment, and sustained neurological damage from it. She experienced things like temporary loss of feeling in her extremities and muscle deterioration - leaving her unable to walk or operate correctly. It wasn’t until she transferred to another hospital, that doctors realized she was having an allergic reaction to the treatment. So instead, they decided to try something new. The results were visibly positive. Her body regained strength and she was able to eat a bit better. Finally, her cell count went from 26,000 down to 3. On Easter of April 2021, she was determined to be in remission.

However, after months of recovering and finally gaining a little bit of herself back, she was unfortunately re-diagnosed in August of 2021. This time around, however, she decided to take the holistic path instead of losing herself to chemo again.

For the last 2 years, our mother had taken on all the financial, physical and emotional challenges of having cancer while being the sole provider for all of us. She never wanted to ask for help or bother anyone with her struggles. So she and I had taken it upon ourselves to find healing for her, so she could come home healthy again and do all the things she loved. We had set out together for Mexico, hoping to leave the hospital with her feeling better, but I was the only one returning back home in the end. As surreal as it still feels to say, she passed away on that journey, leaving me stranded in Mexico for a little. My mom was a very reserved and private person, and never liked having too many people in her business. And though I want nothing other to live in her honor, at this point in our lives, I have no other choice but to reach out for help because my siblings and I are in a tight position. I need enough money to give her the funeral she deserves, then accommodate my siblings, pay the mortgage, etc. And I can’t do that alone.

I humbly ask for donations to help ease the financial cost of the rising bills I was left with and will have to take care of. If you aren’t able to give a monetary donation, please PRAY for my family, and/or SHARE this campaign link through social media, email and texts!

THANK YOU SO MUCH! We appreciate all of your donations, prayers and help!

Love,

Leyla (19), Deniz (17) and Miya (14)

God bless!