Let me tell you about my godfathers mother

If there's a person I look up to as a singular, invincible example of stubborn, headstrong, defiance in the face of death, its my godfathers mother. I'm reminded of this as my godfather just got out of surgery for a heart valve replacement. I wish him all the best and realized that the man we went on holiday with every summer, a literal genius, a person who has worked on pioneering technology for decades is now in his 60s. His name is Sean and he is my godfather. We used to visit his small house in Cambridge every year and it was one of my favourite things to do growing up. Living in small pit towns in the north east, getting to go to a city full of cool places to go that you could just walk or bike around was an amazing experience. Plus, he had a PC, an awesome one at that. I got to play some of my first PC games there. I know he'll be fine and the reason I know that is because his mother is as tough as a battletank and twice as stubborn. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was at university, over 40 years ago. It spread and rapidly progressed to Stage 4. Bear in mind, this is in the 1970s. Medical technology wasn't anywhere near the level it was today. That should have been a death sentence.

She said no. She went through every treatment there was. Experimental? Didn't matter. Painful? Dont care, do it. This is a woman who had radioactive rods shoved into her body in a lead-lined room, all to say bugger off to death. She's in her 80s now. Her next priority is going to her grand-daughters wedding, then presumably outliving everyone within a 20 mile radius. This is a person who never gave up at a time when that might as well have been the only option. Someone who ended up being a guinea pig for painful and pioneering techniques and just kept on going regardless. She's a person who is unstoppable and when I'm 80 I look forward to sitting back and saying "you lead, we just followed". When we're faced with adversity, we'll be remember by whether or not we stepped up and spat in its face. She'd have done that but she's too polite. A strongly worded letter perhaps.