One Thing for Certain

The Christmas pageant went by in a blur last year while our daughter battled cancer. Now she was onstage with her sister, and I wanted to believe the worst was behind us

by STACY KIM, New York, New York

WE WERE IN A TAXI on our way to our church’s Christmas pageant. My husband, Kyle, sat up front, holding the pumpkin bread. Our girls and I were crowded in the back, with my daughter Gillian’s crutches. Allison, 14, would play Mary; Gillian, 12, the innkeeper. “We’re not staying for lunch after the pageant, right?” Allison asked. “We’re just dropping off our dessert?” “It’s too much for Gillian to crutch through that long buffet line,” I explained. “Why? Do you want to stay?” “No!” both girls answered. I was relieved. I wanted no part in the festivities after the performance. A year earlier, we’d learned that the pain in Gillian’s knee was actually a cancerous tumor in her right femur. After her three surgeries and nine months of aggressive chemotherapy, I worried about a relapse. I…

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The Joys Of Christmas (Digital) - 1 Issue, 2019

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