“On August 12, 2016, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. On April 23, 2020 my late husband Billy was diagnosed with colon cancer.  We have three beautiful children: Ana (15), Hudson (12) and Cece (9). When I was diagnosed I was 38, with a 13 month old. No family history, no risk factors. I went through 16 rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. I thought after that we were done.  When Billy was diagnosed in 2020 it felt like a cruel joke. It was the first month into Covid, and I sat in my car with my kids sleeping in the back seats and I was being told my husband had cancer.  Billy fought through tough surgeries, chemotherapy, and gamma knife radiation. He tried clinical trials and yet he still died 2 and a half years later. November 10, 2022.  Watching someone you love die changes you. Watching your kids watch someone they love die changes you. I don’t know that I will ever recover from it. Cancer changed my life, my children’s lives, and took my husband.  I joined the board of VCU’s Massey Cancer Center because I want my legacy to be someone who didn’t let an awful thing defeat her. She decided to become a part of entities and discussions and education about a disease that is taking too many people we love.  I want my legacy to be someone who loves her people, who fights for them, and does everything she can to make sure that no one else has to lose their parent, their child, their friend or family member, to cancer.” Mandy is a resident of Richmond, VA and serves at the board of VCU’s Massey Cancer Center. You can find her at @mandytornabene13