All she ever wanted was that side-splitting, life-changing, end-of-the-world type of love. Yet, as she sat alone on her bathroom floor, she realised her world was ending, just not in the way she’d hoped.

She looked again at the paper in her hand. She still couldn’t quite grasp the words. Brain tumor. Stage 4. This definitely was not where she saw her life going at just 24.

Her friends had been going to parties, hooking up, getting married, etc. She had been in and out of hospitals getting blood drawn, enduring test after test.

She ran her hand through her luxurious, bleach-blonde hair. She wondered when she would have to say goodbye to it (as well as many other things). She looked at the pale skin on her hands, wondering when her admired looks would disappear.

Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door. “Honey, are you okay?” She sighed then replied, “ Yes, Mom. I’m fine.” Her mother, however, wasn’t letting go, “ I know. I’ll be done in a minute.”

She picked herself up off the floor. Looking in the mirror, she made a decision. “This is not the end for me. I am going to live everyday.” She smiled and opened the door, emerging on the start of her new journey to love herself ( and maybe find Mr. Right in the process).