Maria Bailey is my hero. She is my aunt, she is my friend, but most importantly, she is a fighter.
Marika (as I call her...it's Hungarian, I swear I can spell) has been battling cancer in some form or another for ten+ years now. It started as breast cancer and has since morphed into several other forms. She has been battling like hell, and I'm so proud of her for it. Somehow, in the middle of that battle, she found time to take care of the house and her children as best she could. She battled the dogs and their stink, the weather and it's barn-wrecking abilities, and her kids and their lovable yet annoying teenage phases.
Right now, Marika is fighting the fight of her life. Her body is trying to betray her, but we don't want to let that happen. We want her to fight like hell, to beat the odds, and be restored to full health.
I'm asking all of you to pray. Pray harder than you have before, pour open your hearts before God and ask him for this miracle. We ask our Lord to intervene in Marika's life and restore her health. We ask that the cancer be erased without leaving a single trace, and that she is allowed to live a long, fulfilling life. Ask your friends to pray, ask your family to pray, and ask God to help us. The relationships we form in this life are what make it meaningful, and my relationship with Marika has made my life more full. To cut that short is shattering. To rob this world of getting to know Marika is a heartbreaking mistake.
Family makes up our best friends, those forced to be with us whether we want them there or not. Through thick and thin, they are there for us. For several summers during high school, rather than lounge at home or take a summer job, I drove to North Carolina and spent my time with Marika and her family. I taught Nick how to tie his shoes, and I helped Randy with math as best I could. I rode horses with Marika, laughed as Gabrielle shoveled poop out of the barn. When I was there, I took Marika to her doctor's appointments, and tried to be as positive as I could. Those summers make up some of my fondest memories. I learned that, though I love horses, I definitely don't belong shoveling their poop. And while I was sure I would love App State, Alabama is where I belong. I got to share parts of my own lovable yet annoying teenage phase with her. Marika and my mom have so much of each other in them, it was easy to be away from home for that long. It was like moving in with my second mom.
Marika is my hero. Through all of it, through chemo, through losing her hair, through those stinky dogs running amuck in her house, she has never stopped fighting. That's all I'm praying for now; I'm praying that Marika continues to live the way she always has. As a fighter. Please join me in rallying around my aunt, Maria Bailey. No matter the outcome, we know that she is in God's hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment