I lost my mom to renal cancer less than two months prior to relocating to Ithaca. That was August of 2007. She was my best friend, cheerleader, and support. My life goal as a kid was to be a mermaid; a dream that mom supported whole-heartedly, spending hours at our local YMCA pool, and on the ‘beach’ at countless public lake parks, watching me hold my breath and retrieve rings from the depths of ten feet. I was blessed years later to find a man that would also lend total support to any of my ventures. My mom gave her approval and told me this is the one I would be with forever (very handsome, twinkle in the eye, reminded her a bit of dad….except for those damn tattoos), and she left us after a short but nasty fight before her 61st birthday. I’ve missed her every single day, from sunny mornings to the day of our wedding.

This year, in August, I’ll be swimming across Cayuga Lake, with 349 other women, to raise money for Hospicare and honor my mom’s life and battle. I so excited to be a swimmer in the 10th Annual Women Swimmin for Hospicare! I’ll be marking my progress along the way, and you can pledge $$ to support a great cause here: Women Swimmin Demetra Molina