There is yet to be a day where cancer has not had an effect on my life. Before I was born, my father was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, a form of cancer that attacks the blood and bone marrow. My parents still wanted to have kids despite this diagnosis so they went through the process of in vitro fertilization to have me and my twin brother. Luckily, while my mom was pregnant with us, he went into remission. He still needed some maintenance chemotherapy, but all the family was so thankful for God and the doctors. Things were looking up, especially with me and my bother on the way. Unfortunately, he relapsed before my second birthday and passed away just a couple months after I turned two. Children don't start to have memories until they are about three and half years old. I have no memories of my father at all, not even the sound of his voice. I only know what he looks like because of pictures. Growing up without a dad is really rough for a young child. Me and my brother knew there was a kind, smart, and funny man who loved us, but he was with his Heavenly Father and not there to be our father. I'm so thankful for having the best mom in the entire world. She filled both the roles as best as she could even though she was trying to work through the loss of her husband and the weight of being a single mom. There's no way I'd be the man I am today without her support. She taught me sports, helped me with school, and most importantly taught me to be strive to be the same strong christian man that everyone said my dad was. She did this alone until she met the man that would become my step-father. When I was about six she started dating this guy who's filled the role of dad in my life. They got married two years later and it was not long before I had a real dad. James taught me how to hunt and fish. He also taught me how to be the man of the house, something that was lacking before he came along. He has been an amazing dad to me throughout the years, and he regards me and my brother as his sons by blood. Cancer has shaped the way my childhood and even my adulthood has looked. The third question in this prompt asks how I have worked through the effect of cancer in my life. The truth is I didn't have to work through it all because of the love and support I received from my mom and then my step-dad. My mom is my superhero for being there as a single-parent, and my step-dad is my superhero for stepping up and being the father he chose to be, not had to be. I wouldn't be anything without them.