Like a lot of people out there, Colleen Burris has a bucket list of places to go, people to see and dreams to fulfil.
Mostly, she just wants to spend more time with family and friends but hopes to scratch a trip to Spain, Ireland and sky diving off her list.
What’s heartbreakingly different though about Burris’ wish list is she only has five months left to complete it after being told her cancer was terminal.
“We kinda had an inkling that this would come eventually, I just didn’t think it would come so soon,” Burris said.
“So it’s really hard but you can’t live in those moments, you have to move past them and be happy for the rest of the time you do have.”
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Her sister, who describes the 29-year-old as wonderful and one of the most beautiful people she knows, says the news was devastating.
“I think it’s hard on all us, it’s just hard to think of what little time we have left with her,” Caitlin Malberg said as tears welled up in her eyes.
Faith keeps the family strong but being so close will make this next portion of their journey together that much harder.
“I would take it in a moment for her,” Bob Heffernan said.
“A father does everything they can to protect their daughters all their lives and then you can’t do nothing, that part’s difficult.”
Nothing will go left unsaid in a situation like this one and while some wouldn’t consider holidays like the one they all just took to Mexico much of a vacation given the circumstances – they all agreed they just pushed that out of their minds and enjoyed the moment.
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Colleen had the option to endure more chemotherapy with low chances of extending her life, treatments that would have meant a decline in her quality of life.
“It’s been hard but Colleen has chosen to live rather than die,” her husband Laurie said.
Live life to the fullest with what she has left and to get there her sister has now set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of household bills and adventures ahead.
“The love and support from friends and family and even strangers it’s been totally unreal,” Malberg said.
No gesture is too small towards memories that will leave a lasting impression and already Colleen says her lifelong dream of becoming a mom came true.
The couple adopted a little girl named Aubrey after Colleen’s first health crisis.
In August 2012, just days after her wedding she was sent to hospital with severe abdominal pain and weeks later was diagnosed with stage 4 Sarcoma cancer. At that time, Colleen underwent a total hysterectomy followed by six months of chemotherapy and had gone into remission.
Colleen says there’s a reason she’s going through this but it’s painful to think about not seeing her now three-year-old daughter grow up.
The family says it will do whatever it takes in the days to come to make sure there is more joy than sorrow.
“I think as long as she wants to do it and we can throw her on our back or get her there somehow we will continue to do it,” said her husband.