by Sabrina Garibian posted in Products & Prizes

My mom died 15 years ago.
One minute I am in shock that it's been 15 years, in the next I understand that it's been a long time. My life is different. I am different. I don't even live in the same place. I don't even have the same name now that I'm married.
Here's my mom and I sometime in the late 90's:

My memories of her are slipping away from me. I can't remember her voice. I do remember her laugh. I remember her cards, her handwriting, the way she could simultaneously be spontaneous and organized. I remember that I had a great story to tell the kids about that time we went to the movies in a rainstorm, but I can't remember why the story was special.

I still stumble when people ask me my heritage. I say "my mom IS from Italy" as though she's still alive, just a phone call or drive away from a hug and a laugh. But she's not. My mom died of breast cancer. I think. They think. She died in 2001, just a few weeks after 9/11.
As a woman in my early 30's it's time I very seriously consider what I need to do to protect myself and my daughters from cancer. There are so many unanswered questions. Will knowing if I'm BRCA gene positive affect my life" Am I for or against prophylactic mastectomy" What are my options, my responsibilities, my duty for gathering information about my family history and my own genetics"
There are a few things I do know for certain. I won't miss my annual appointment with my docto...