Parents play a formative role in your adolescent lives. From telling you right from wrong to helping you decide what college you are going to attend, parents are the people you lean on when you need to make tough decisions.
Ball State University gymnast Brittany George's tough decisions, though, will now be made without the guidance of her parents.
George's father, Charles, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1997.
"Dad would be the one screaming in the stands [during gymnastics meets]," George said. "They were a very big in school and gymnastics."
After receiving treatment for the colon cancer, Charles remained in good health for almost five years.
"They tell you if you make it five years through remission, you're pretty much cancer free," George said.
Four years and eight months into remission, her father was diagnosed with liver cancer. He died in May 2005.
In November, her mother, Pamela George, was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia, released, and then readmitted in December. George received a phone call from her aunt and uncle telling her to come home.
"I had no clue she was sick," George said. "She didn't sound sick on the phone. My sisters never said anything about her acting differently or anything. To me it was kind of sudden."
The last time she had seen her mom was during Thanksgiving Break. They last talked the week before finals.
She never did get to talk to her mother again, who was put into a drug-induced coma before Brittany returned to her hometown of Orlando, Fla. The doctors thought the coma would help her mother's body fight the pneumonia but instead each system in her body began shutting down. She died Jan. 2. Brittany's best friend, the person she talked to every night on the telephone, was now gone.
HEALING THE PAIN
Not everyone has a support staff quite like Brittany. Her roommate and teammate Lauren West has played an instrumental role in her recovery. On Brittany's 19th birthday on Feb. 17, her roommates wanted to make it special. Before a 7:30 a.m. class they had a birthday party. During the gymnastics team Family Night, West's family represented George.
"We've kind of adopted her into my family," West said. "My parents offered to be her adopted parents."
But healing isn't always a group activity. There were many nights George would resign to her bedroom and cry. Sometimes West would join her.
"We prayed a lot for her and her family," West said. "We just kind of comforted her. If she felt like she wanted to talk, I'd make sure I was there for her. Sometimes she wanted to sit in her room and cry."
But mostly, George used gymnastics to heal.
"There's still times when I'm wishing I'm at home to be with [my two sisters]," George said. "Staying busy and doing gymnastics helps. I think gymnastics is the way for me to get away from everything else, to concentrate on something that I love."
Gymnastics coach Lisa Simonton can attest to that. George wanted to immediately return to her workouts but Simonton wanted to be certain she was going to be at 100 percent ready.
"The first week, you could tell with her body language that things were still bothering her," Simonton said. "You know when to back off and when someone needs a hug. Sometimes they just want to be quiet and left alone. When you get to know each other as well as they do, you can tell what's needed."
FAMILY
George's two younger sisters, Brandi, 18, and Brooke, 16, are living in their parents home with their aunt and uncle, Jamie and Sharon Drake. Brandi earned a gymnastics scholarship at the University of Maryland starting in the fall. Initially, Brittany's sisters bounced from place-to-place between relatives and friends. Although Brittany wanted to be with her sisters, she did not consider leaving Ball State.
"I knew that my parents would want me to finish school," George said. "There was no choice but for me to come back up here and at least finish out my schooling. It was hard for me to realize my sisters were at home, moving from location to location until they could get settled."
The greatest sacrifice, though, has come from the Drakes. With their kids already grown and gone, they decided to move into Brittany's parents' house, which now requires them to drive an hour each way to work.
"Honestly, any inconvenience that we've experienced when [Jamie and I] walk in the door every evening and have dinner together, it's all erased," Sharon Drake said.
The experience that George has gone through in the past eight months is something no one wishes to have happen. But she has vowed it won't stop her from everyday activities.
"It was only a way to show us that you can only become stronger by the things that you overcome," George said.
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