My Mom and Princess Kate

 I haven't been reading the "where's Kate?" articles. It's none of my business. Public figure or not, everyone deserves privacy. She is a person before she is a princess. William with a mistress? Please, have you seen how he looks are her, he loves her deeply! Remember when she was "Waity Katy" because he made her wait so many years before proposing? It's because he wanted to be certain it would be forever.

But her video announcing her cancer diagnosis has me extra afraid. In the early morning on February 29th my mom died of cancer. She had been battling it for technically a year but really longer. She was the one in my December blog post. "What is Grief if Not Love Persevering?"

Home With Mommy: "What is Grief if Not Love Persevering?" - Vision in Wandavision (homewithmommy-fran.blogspot.com)

In February of 2023 testing revealed the cancer. At first, the surgeon thought it might be removable if it shrunk enough after three months of chemo. But, on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend (May 26, 2023) she was told it had moved and couldn't be operated on. She started the "extend your life but you're terminal" chemo then. That stopped working around Halloween and in December she briefly tried a drug trial but decided it was too much for her. She entered home hospice and in January, at her decision, was moved to a care facility. 

Princess Kate has me very afraid. What type of cancer? Is she terminal? Is she on the "shrink then remove" chemo or the "this will help with what time you have left" chemo? My mind races, hoping she is spared following my mother's path. But these answers are hers to give if and when she wants to. 

Kate is giving me flashbacks to when Princess Diana died. In the 1991 - 1992 school year I did a biography project for school on Princess Diana. I was in the fourth grade (age 10). I really liked her, and she became a favorite of mine after that. When I heard news of her death I was driving. I couldn't process it as something that really happened for a while. I'm still not fully wrapping my head around Kate's diagnosis. I really like Kate, just like I liked Princess Diana. It takes a special person to be married to the heir to a kingdom. I admire them both. 

My mom got to spend part of the last year of her life doing what made her happy and the one thing she wanted to do but was waiting on. She wanted to take Zach on a college visit to the college where she met my father. She showed him the place where they met. Zach developed a love or Architecture. A really awesome man from church is a professor there and offered to give them a private tour. That man was at her viewing so, it was nice to thank him in person. 

She was cremated. For a few days I didn't know if she was in human form or dust. It turns out that they can't cremate for 24 hours but were quick to take care of it after that. The memorial service was beautiful, she had planned it, and the priest did a phenomenal job! So many wonderful people came, some from far away, to celebrate her life. 

"What is grief if not love persevering?" I haven't cried. My mom hasn't been herself since Thanksgiving. But I spent a lot of time with her throughout my life. My mourning started after Thanksgiving when she no longer had the energy to be herself. The last thing I ever told her is "I love you". It gives me peace that she died knowing that. I miss her hugs. I miss walking with her. I miss being able to ask her to explain something to me that I don't fully understand. I just miss her. 

The royal family has delt with a lot these last few years. Now, two of them are living with cancer and it's unclear if it's terminal or not. Prince William is around my age, and he's been taking metaphorical body blows from all sides. We can't forget that the prince is human too. He's probably afraid for his father and wife. He's probably afraid what he'll do as a single father if she dies. He probably misses his brother and doesn't know a graceful way to fix things. Is he thinking of his mother now?

My mom was a wonderful woman taken too soon at age 75 by cancer. I pray Princess Kate goes into remission and lives a very long, very happy, and very healthy life. What does my mom have in common with Princess Kate? They are both diplomatic, loving wives and mothers, brilliant, beautiful, caring, and suffering from cancer. They are also both human.