One in a million chance

These past few weeks is a compilation of stories involving mothers getting sick or passing away. And earlier today I visited my dermatologist friend who is trying to cope with her mom's affliction with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, which is a rare prion disorder infecting the brain. And while she was treating my face, she kept on asking how I coped with my mom's degeneration and eventual death. On hindsight, it was a bit funny because I couldn't stop my tears, not really because of my friend's story, but because the chemical peel and comedone extraction were excruciating.

The truth is, I couldn't give her a crystal clear answer because I really have no idea how I was able to go through my mom's illness and death and still turn out sane (or at least relatively sane). I guess the 'coping mechanism' isn't really something that has a formula. But it is advantageous to have someone else understand how confused you are when facing a situation that needs coping.