Stacey’s Inward Journey

When I started this journey, I had no idea how successful Better Day Givings, Inc. would be in making
a true difference in our survivor’s lives. Making them feel whole again rather than just a number.
Giving them extra confidence and encouragement to understand and overcome their illness.

After losing my mother, Camille McDuffie, and her struggles to defeat this disease that destroys
bodily tissues, I set out on a journey to make a difference in the lives of others. My siblings, father,
and I, had to share our mother with a team of medical professionals and ordinary people who gave
her support during her journey trying to defeat this disease. There is no set time how long you can
live with this disease called cancer.

She was a beautiful woman and mother. Full of life, love, compassion, spirited, peaceful and family
oriented. Our mother daughter relationship was not out of the ordinary. My mother discovered a cyst
in her breast. The cyst was the beginning of her illness. We saw the patch on her breast where the
cyst had been removed. She made the decision not to have a mastectomy after consulting with her
doctor. Then the cancer came back. She did not tell us the truth about the cyst she discovered in
her breast. She kept her cancer diagnosis a secret. When she shared it with us the cancer had not
metastasized. She told her daughters the cancer had spread to her head and created a tumor that
took her eyesight away. Even though, she lost her eyesight, she kept her spirits uplifted with the
support of her family. She could not see but she could hear. She loved watching her stories on
television. She sat on the couch, peacefully, listening to the stories because they gave her joy. Of
course, the characters never changed in the stories. Just hearing the voices of the actors was
satisfying to her.

To this day, I wonder if her decision had been different, would she be here with us today. I recall her
saying to me in a sweet and motherly way, “Stacey, you are shaped like me with big boobs. Make
sure you get yourself checked out.” I had my first mammogram at the age of (35) thirty-five.
I watched from afar, as she only allowed my sisters to take care of her. Taking her to doctor
appointments, cancer treatments and giving her shots of pain medication. They were there with her
every time I came to visit her. I had a great deal of medical knowledge. But she refused to let me take
care of her. This was mostly due to me being the only daughter married and with two young boys to
care for. I believe my mother was trying to protect me.

My sisters were deeply affected by my mother’s death because they witness everything that she
endured while fighting this disease.
If I could speak to my mother today, this is what I would say to her:
“Mom, I am still standing. I appreciate everything you taught me. I see myself in you because of my
will and determination to become the adult I am today. Thank you for being my mom.”

After her death, I was not able to ask her questions about how to be a good mother and wife. I had to
figure out things on my own. I miss having the person who raised me in my life. I miss her not being
here to help me raise her grandchildren. I miss my children not having their grandmother in their
lives. I wish she could have lived to see her grandsons become men. I miss our conversations we
had together every day. My mom had great looking legs like Tina Turner! She loved to dance and play
bingo on Friday nights. She left too early.
Mrs. Camille McDuffie departed from life in 1998 at the age of fifty-seven (57). I was thirty-five (35)
years old with a husband, two (2) children, two (2) sisters and my father, Mr. McDuffie.
Losing my mother, inspired me to reach out to others who were being challenged with this disease.
There are different types of cancers that affects men, women, and children. Therefore, I set out on a
journey to create an organization that could give support to these individuals by uplifting their spirit,
encouraging them to keep fighting, making them feel hold again, providing prayer, monetary support,
spiritual inspiration, and knowledge about the disease.

Better Day Givings, Inc. has been an active organization for eleven (11) years. I would like to take this
opportunity, Stacey Nunez, CEO, to introduce to some and reintroduce to others, “Better Day
Givings, Inc.” and invite you to join me on my “Inward Journey” as we take a deeper look into what we
do and how you can be a part of making a difference in the lives of others.

Jeanelle Y. Smith, Editor
Published Book Author