On October 29th, 2026 (October 30th in Ukraine), I lost my mom to cancer.

I loved my mom more than anyone in this world. She was the best mom, wife, daughter, and friend. She always dreamed of becoming a doctor, but life had other plans, and she became a police officer instead. She was incredibly smart, educated, kind, and loving. She loved gardening and had a huge garden where she grew pretty much every vegetable and fruit you could imagine. She was never afraid of hard work. She loved crafts, learning new things, and making things with her hands. And she absolutely loved cooking, especially experimenting in the kitchen and coming up with something new. She was always busy doing something, and somehow she knew how to do everything.

She believed in me more than anybody else. She supported all my dreams and crazy ideas, even when they probably made no sense to anyone else. She never judged me, and she was always the best listener. I didn't just lose my mom. I lost my best friend.

I hate cancer. I hate distance. And I hate how unfair life can be.

I haven't been able to be with my mom for the last 10 years. Most of our pictures together from those years are just screenshots from video calls. I wish I had more pictures of us. Just simple pictures of us being together.

One of the things that brings me a little peace now is looking at her photos. The picture above is my mom before I even existed. She was young, beautiful, and had no idea what life had planned for her.

I look at this picture and think about how much I wish I could go back and photograph her again. I wish I had more pictures of her smiling, laughing, doing everyday things. Just being my mom.

Unfortunately, I can't change that.