My mother is a page of the imost meaningful chapter in my life - my family. Two years ago, I was faced with the seemingly unbelievable fact that my mother may not be as indestructible and invincible as I had always assumed. Since my adoption at age three months, my mother has always proved to be uncommonly strong, and she has continuously tried to develop my values similarly.

When I came home from school one day of my sophomore year to learn that my mother had developed a tumor, possibly malignant, and that she would be undergoing surgery, I was struck by reality. How juvenile I was to think that the woman who had nursed me through five cases of bronchial pneumonia, and sat by my bed every night after my major knee operation, was impervious to illness.

I visited my mother every day in the hospital, viewing her in a light that she had never previously disclosed. I saw her as a frail and worried patient. Those are the memories that have shaped my outlook ever since. I began to understand my mother to be more my equal and my friend, as opposed to an exemplary authority figure. Previously, Mom had been the indomitable one, a mental crutch I could always look to. Now it was my turn. She needed my guidance and support.

The surgery went extremely well without an anxious moment, and my mother has been untouched by illness since. In the span of one week, her Newton-Wellesley hospitalization caused me to grow emotionally, coming to grips with responsibility. I also learned firsthand that no one is immune to sickness or tragedy, no matter how much I wish this were true. I vowed to be less naive about such issues and to take on appropriate responsibilities, not looking to others as much as in the past. I do not rely on my parents to solve the slightest moral dilemmas. I see challenges as self-gratifying experiences that would not be as fulfilling if I depended on parental means and suggestions instead of my own. In terms of maturity and independence, I have come a long way in two years. Before my realization, I took for granted the fact that I would endlessly have my loving and caring parents to depend on. Now I see that often times they need my support as much as I need theirs, and that I must take on more independence as I offer them the dependence they require. n