Before my mom passed away from breast cancer when I turned 16, she had been undergoing constant chemotherapy for 6 years. As grateful as I am for our time together, I did not get to see a lot of her throughout my teenage years, and unlike other girls my age who grew up with their moms as their best friends, I missed out on quite a few things as a daughter. But don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for this situation that was set up for me since it toughened me up in a way I could never have expected.
Breast cancer is proven to be genetically inheritable, meaning that if my mom got it, 80% chances that I will as well. So, it is inevitable that what my mom went through will eventually come to me, but I don't want history to repeat itself: just because I might get breast cancer doesn’t mean my future daughter would have to grow up in the absence of a mother’s company like I did.
So I drew a comic book for my future girl, naming it “Mommy Vows”. This book is all about my vows as a mommy-to-be who can foresee her cancer diagnosis. Every page of the book is my based on my very own experience when I was a teenager: I googled puberty questions that girls could simply ask their moms, I asked my friends for their moms' advice on period, I had no-one to talk to about school dramas, I didn't know how to cook when I went abroad for college since nobody taught me to, nobody was there for me on my graduation day, and I regret not taking that many photos with my mom while she was alive.
And I vow to make sure none of those things will happen to my future daughter.
