Finding Light In Dark Times
Originally Published On September 17, 2017
By Luda Isakharov
“I saw her throw up at night and become very weak”
— MIA REESE
Senior Mia Reese navigates the hallways with a casual pep in her step and a smile across her face. During freshman year, keeping that smile was a big challenge knowing at the back of her head her younger sister was in a battle with stage four cancer.
She was terrified, but her closest friends knew about her situation and supported her. Through her sister’s ultimately successful fight, Mia learned lessons that will last her a lifetime.
Mia reflects, “Once you go through something like that, you learn to enjoy every moment you get with your family and not take it for granted.”
Mia always had a strong connection with her younger sister, Ruby Elizabeth Reese. “We have always been really close,” Mia said. “We have a secret handshake and everything! I also taught her to play the ukulele.”
Their close relationship made the journey that much more painful for Mia.
Mia became a witness to an illness that took something from Ruby she didn’t even know could be taken; her health, spirit and liveliness. But most of all, her young sister’s smile was stolen away. An unspoken hero in Ruby’s life carried her missing smile through thick and thin for the next seven months until her recovery.
In February of 2014 Ruby, who was seven at the time, developed an unusual lump in her abdomen.
“After an MRI,” Mia said, “The doctor told us the outcome might be no big deal or could be life changing.”
The outcome? Life changing. Stage four kidney cancer.
That was the moment when the Reese family was thrown a hardship they had not seen coming. It would completely change their lives over the course of the next seven months with the blink of an eye.
“First, I was like ‘Wow’; this is happening’,” Mia said choking up a bit. “You see it happen to people on TV and in movies, and you never think ‘This will be me,’ but then it happens.”
“ You think to yourself,” Mia said, “‘This is changing my life […] I could lose my sister.’”
Throughout the next few months, Mia and her family witnessed Ruby change drastically. The already thin girl became frail and weak. The effects of morphine, a narcotic used to treat severe pain, made her easily frustrated and moody. Mia witnessed these changes firsthand.
“Emotionally, as a sister, it was really hard to watch her go through that,” Mia said, “Physically, I became quiet. I kept all my feelings to myself.”
Despite the struggle, Mia eventually learned how to cope. She used school as an escape and maintained a 4.0 GPA. She used her faith for guidance and strength.
“This isn’t the solution for everyone,” Mia said, “but I’m a Christian and connecting with God and trusting Him really helped me get through this.”
Throughout everything, Mia stayed optimistic and continued smiling. Mia’s best friend, Emily Baker-Carver has noticed Mia’s ability to spread positivity.
“Mia knows everyone, and everyone knows her,” Baker Carver said. “She has always been so positive and kind to all her friends, no matter what she is going through in her own life.”
Through months of chemotherapy and endless trips to the emergency room, Ruby put up quite a fight.
Ruby did it. She won.
Since August of 2014, Ruby has been cancer free. Her hair has grown back, and thanks to an elementary school teacher’s help, Ruby used summer schooling to catch up in her academics.
Mia knows that other students are dealing with similar hardships in life. She is also aware that not all of these stories have happy endings. After what Mia has gone through herself, she has some heartfelt words of advice for these students.
“It’s not gonna stay bad forever,” she says with her usual smile and a sincere tone of voice. “It alway gets better. It will either get worse and then start getting better, or, it will only get better from here.” She continued, “Just stay positive and put your faith in God, that’s what worked for me.”
Mia knows and admits she has become stronger and better as a person because of what she overcame.
Through everything Mia never lost that pep in her step. But most importantly, she never stopped smiling. She might never know that she was the unspoken hero that carried that smile all along. Only now, between her and Ruby, that smile is mutual.
Her big takeaway? “In the good moments, cherish your family and in the bad, remember those good times.”
So Mia Reese, in her own way, is a survivor, too.
