The Stories Of Us: Mandy Tornabene
What's Your Legacy?
This is a question I've been pondering a lot lately - with everything going on around us, living in the modern wold can feel like we are being stretched in so many (often competing) directions. When I want to ground myself and come back to my core values, I consider my legacy. What is it, why it matters to me, and how can I spread this beautiful message far and wide.
To celebrate the launch of our Legacy Locket - a beautiful keepsake necklace that is the result of nearly two years of work - I reached out to some incredible people in my sphere to share their legacies with you.
In honor of the stories that make us, I will also be donating a portion of our sales to each of these Legacy heroes' chosen causes to continue to pay it forward.
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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 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 mom, their sister, the daughter, their friend, to cancer.
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 am sharing my legacy in support of VCU's Massey Cancer Center.
Mandy is a resident of Richmond, V and serves at the board of VCU's Massey Cancer Center. You can find her @mandytornabene13
