Yolanda Cascio (first row, left) with her family at CSUDH Men’s Basketball Senior Night on February 22, 2020. Photo by Lynda Nguyen
By Jackson Cascio, Staff Reporter
In May 2015, I received some of the most gut-wrenching news of my life, my mother had a brain tumor.
I wasn’t scared, I was terrified at the possibilities and those not-so-happy thoughts came running into my mind. “Is it cancer? How is it treated? How advanced is it? Is my mom going to die?” I was 17 and had thoughts of losing my mom.
Yolanda Cascio had always been the rock in my family. She is the glue that has held us together for my entire life. To me she isn’t just my mom, she was my biggest motivator, my greatest advocate, and my biggest fan.
She would go to all my basketball games and cheered the loudest even if I wasn’t playing that day. She had an attitude about her that came out a lot during games, whether it was yelling at referees for making a bad call, or yelling at the other team’s fans.
My mom was the definition of a soccer mom when I was younger. She coached both of my older sisters almost every year they played soccer, and was the person who would pick up everybody and take them home after practice and games.
She showed her strength and attitude by enduring three surgeries in six months in 2015 to remove the tumor. She didn’t stop there, she ended up having to go through radiation treatment in the fall of 2016 to kill the rest of the tumor.
She couldn’t work during the time after her surgery, but she still helped my sister with her newborn daughter, Olivia.
She welcomes everybody into her home with an open heart and an open mind. Only judging people by their character, and how they treat others. Her faith, and the size of her heart sets her apart from everybody else.
I try and live my life the way she does, she works hard every day to give her kids a great life. I want to be able to live my life with the happiness and determination that she has shown. She is always smiling, even when things aren’t going great, she always finds a way to find the bright spot in everyday life.
Her perseverance and strength are a reason that she is one of my heroes and I admire her. I love you, mom.
