I had originally bought my key with the word "HOPE" written on it. I made the decision to purchase it after both my mother and my, adoptive, father were diagnosed with cancer. My mom with skin cancer, my dad first with testicular cancer and then multiple myeloma.
I wore my key proudly for years, not just as a reminder to have hope for them, but to have hope for myself as I ended up being tested for cervical and uterine cancer. In the long run, I lost my ability to have children, but was lucky enough to come out cancer free. My mom had all of her cancerous spots removed and won her battle, but my dad wasn't that lucky. After fighting for two years, having five bone marrow transplants and three stem cell transplants he left this life and joined the wind.
It was after he died that I knew I needed to give my key to my younger sister, to remind her to have hope. To remind her that even though our dad is gone that there are still reasons to have hope and fight through the tough days because one of the things that our dad always said was that we needed to have hope for him because he was strong enough to fight his battle every day with a smile on his face.
