Mommy’s Piggy Tales: A Year I’d Rather Forget

Eighth grade was very difficult. Not academically; I was a good student and had good grades. I was still considered the “new girl.” For the first time in my life, I felt unliked. One of the friends I had made in seventh grade moved away. The other girls in the group I had befriended started giving me the silent treatment. I had no idea why, and it hurt. Was I too timid and shy? Or was I too bossy and a know-it-all? To this day, I don’t know why they rejected me. I started sitting with the “popular” girls at lunch, and they were cordial to me, but I never really felt like I had friends in eighth grade. After graduation, I went home and cried my heart out. My parents comforted me the best they could; their hearts must have been breaking for me. Part of me couldn’t wait to go to high school and start over.

The June after my graduation was especially hard. My parent told us some news; Mom, the mother of four children ages five to fourteen, had breast cancer. She was forty years old.

Last week, I told you that God must have called us to the suburbs for a reason. Mom had the best care at one of the best hospitals in the nation; the breast care center at this hospital now bears the name of her doctor. He was a wonderful man, and my parents had the utmost confidence in him. Mom was a breast cancer survivor of twenty-six years before this disease took her away from us.

Years later, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my parents wanted me to have the same doctor. He had already retired by then, but he referred me to one of his students. I couldn’t have found a better doctor. I am now fourteen years past that first diagnosis. The doctors that took such good care of my mom and myself were a gift from God.

When I was fourteen years old, there was no way I could have seen such a blessing for me in the future. I was more concerned about surviving a very large and intimidating public high school….


Janna of Mommy’s Piggy Tales began a project to share our youth with our children. Every Thursday, I will tell a story about my childhood as if I were telling it to my children. At the end of this project, I’ll have a collection of stories about my childhood for my children to keep, and hopefully treasure.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

8 Replies to “Mommy’s Piggy Tales: A Year I’d Rather Forget”

  1. Well I guess 8th grade was hard on most of us…I will post mine later, but a similar story.So sorry about your mom and also your own battle with breast cancer. Yes His ways are higher than our ways…even when our minds can't put it all together.Blessings as you continue to walk in your healing and sharing your testimony to others…

  2. I felt the same way about 8th grade! Too many cliques, too much teasing, I was so glad to get to High School. I always find it facinating where God's plan leads people. Great that you Mom found such a great Dr. there, and you were able to see his student years later, truly a gift!

  3. Is your mom gone now, Ginny? I'm so sorry. I know how it is to lose your mother. There is nothing like it. Bruce Ware, who is one of the elders at my church had his mother pass away the same year as my mother did, and he told me "Gretchen, my mother was 90 years old, and a godly woman ready to go to heaven. But she was my MOTHER, and I still miss her very badly". In general, I agree that 8th grade is pretty much the worst version of yourself!!

  4. I felt the same way in 8th grade but I'm so glad you guys stuck around and found that doctor. Long time no talk… life has been busy around here. Hope you guys are doing well!

  5. I never really fitted in at school. Everybody had already been paired off and I was the one left out. Also because I went to protestant school and my best friend went to public school (which was in the same building by the way). When I finally started making friends in high school, we moved because of my dad's job and I had to start all over again!

  6. I HATED 7th and 8th grade. They were the worst.Isn't it amazing how life works, though? How incidents that seem so horrible can turn around and become a kind of blessing or lead to one in the future? I'm so glad you are ok!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d