Last Christmas Together

As Allison Grace recalls, her family always made a big deal about holidays.

On Valentine's Day, for example, family members usually gave one another cards, candy, and sometimes small gifts.

But two years ago, Allison, then 10, got one of the worst gifts imaginable. That's when she learned that her mother had cancer.

"I thought the 'c' word, cancer, meant that you're going to die," she wrote at the time. "Now that my mom has breast cancer I have learned that sometimes there is a good outcome. That is what I am hoping for."

During her mother's uphill battle, Allison kept a diary with entries like that one, chronicling her feelings, hopes and fears.

Started as a class project, Allison's writing caught the eye of a local publisher. Now, "The Valentine's Day Gift" is a book, available to help other kids her age get through similar experiences.

In it, Allison reflects on how it is easy to place blame for illness on the people you love: "I would get angry sometimes just because I thought sometimes it was her fault that she got cancer," she wrote.

In an especially poignant passage, she describes what happened when her mother's hair began to fall out during chemotherapy treatment.

"When my mom's hair started to fall out, she decided she just wanted it all gone. That is where we came in. I got the scissors and my brother and I took turns cutting off all my mom's hair. Then my dad arrived with the clippers and shaved all the rest off. This was our hair cutting party. We all laughed and cried again, but we knew that the chemo had started its job of killing the cancer cells."

Allison's mother bravely fought her illness, but the disease she discovered on Valentine's Day had almost completely taken over by her favorite holiday – Christmas.

The family spent its final holiday together one year ago; Mary Grace lost her battle with cancer just a week into the new year.

"I love Christmas," Alison said. "It just feels so different this year. It feels like a piece I'm missing, and I don't think it's going to be the same. I know it won't be the same. The house is decorated still, but it's not as joyful as it was."

The Grace family is determined not to let Mary die in vain. It has started the Mary Grace Memorial Foundation, which so far has raised $30,000 for cancer research.

And Allison, now 12, is reaching out to other children with her book. "I would tell them to be with their mom, talk to them," she said. "If you cry, it helps a lot. I figured that out. I have learned to never take life for granted. To live like you're dying, just always have fun, not be afraid."

Just shy of her teens, Allison is getting ready to write the next chapter in her life. As with the past, she'll undoubtedly handle herself with - what else? – grace.