In Memory of Tara Maria McElroy
This year, I registered for the Susan G. Komen MORE THAN PINK Walk in memory of Tara McElroy. She was my the first friend I made when my family moved to the United States. We were two peas in a pod for many years. I need your help to honor her family's wishes though the Komen Foundation and help end breast cancer forever!
Please read the beautiful words shared by Tara's husband Praveer Kumar on the day of her passing (September 26, 2024).
Last year, we hit a roadblock when Tara was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, with a normal mammogram 3 months prior.
We got the news while vacationing in Iceland. I wanted to come back right away. But Tara said no. “We will enjoy our vacation as a family, and then we will go back and deal with this”
The first day of chemotherapy is vivid in my mind. The oncologist walked in and said “Tara, we had AI double check the mammogram and it says 0% risk of cancer”
The post mastectomy biopsy showed DCIS, which is stage 0, and yet it was in the bones at the time of diagnosis.
Such is fate.
Tara responded well enough to chemotherapy that we were able to get Japan off her bucket list this spring.
But as triple negative breast cancer often does, it came back with a vengeance.
Her health plummeted in the last 3 weeks, with the cancer spreading like wildfire.
In her final days Tara was in and out of mental clarity.
Our wonderful son, Sean decided to read to her, her favorite book Harry Potter, and as he was reading a passage from the book, she joined in and completed the sentence with him.
“After all, to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure”
Tara embarked on her next great adventure at 3:15 AM on September 26,2024
Tara was loved by all, and will be missed forever.
Please donate to cancer research in her memory to the Susan G Komen Foundation. They have done incredible work.
