May 27th, 2005 was a beautiful, sunny, warm day, which came at the end of a very grey, cold and rainy month. This is also the day on which my mother, Rosemary D. Pirozek, succumbed to Breast Cancer at the age of 52. Some said that she waited and chose the most beautiful day to make her departure from this world. They are probably right because there was not one other day in all of 2005 that was as beautiful as the day my mother passed away.

In the time since her passing, some things have changed: she is no longer at the house to welcome me when I come home, to joke around with, cry with, laugh with, cook dinner for or even argue with. Even with these things missing from my life, I still think of her everyday and talk to her, on occasion, as if she were sitting next to me. These things will never change and will continue until we are reunited.

I knew my mother for 27 years when she passed away and, in those 27 years, she taught me a lot of things about life, about myself, about how to be a good person. This list could go on indefinitely. My mother always encouraged me to do my best and to succeed in whatever it was I was doing. I am thankful that she was able to see me graduate from college and start a career before she passed away. That was something that I thought she would never get to see.

My mother, along with my father, raised a great family. They made sure to give us as much as they could. There was always a good meal for dinner and a clean house to come home to. My brother and I both had our mother there with us for all of the milestones in our lives and those are memories which we will never forget. Unfortunately, my sister will not have the pleasure of having her mother there with her for all of the milestones which are coming up in her life. However, I won't let the memory of my mother fade in her mind and I will continue to keep my mother in everyone's thoughts and memories.

You did a good job of raising us mom. I will look out for everyone.

"Treasure every moment you can with those people whom you love because, even on the most spectacular day, you can lose them."

- Joseph A. Pirozek

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

To the right is a list of links which will take you to my mother's story, and familys memories of her. There are also links to many different Cancer related topics, as well as pictures from my mother's magnificent, yet short, life.