On January 1, 1996 a girl named Tanya was born. Unfortunately, Tanya was born with thyroid cancer. Although her parents were more than happy to have their first child, they also showed concerned about Tanya’s future. Tanya’s parents would give her a lot of extra attention. Tanya's parents would spoil her as a child. She would get a new toy about once a week, and she was always babied throughout her childhood; therefore life always seemed amazing to Tanya. Tanya knew that she was sick, but her parents just didn't tell her to what extent. They wanted Tanya to feel her life was not affected because of the disease; therefore, they would always seem happy around her and always assure her that the world was a good place and everything would be okay. Although in reality, every time her parents looked at her, they would see their poor daughter facing problems; they knew it would be hard. The older Tanya got, the more complicated her thyroid cancer was getting.

     Tanya began to have tests about once a month. The older she got the more familiar she started to become with her disease and the more her knowledge increased about it. Tanya began to have surgeries concerning her throat once every 6 months. Because of problems breathing and frequent pain in her throat, Tanya had to make frequent visits to the doctor. Life was starting to change slowly for Tanya. She didn't know what the real world was actually like. She was living in a fantasy her parents made up to keep her happy. The world didn't seem like such a perfect place anymore. She began to see defects and problems everywhere she went. She saw people were more depressed and stressed than happy. This was the first time Tanya saw the world from a negative aspect. The struggle of trying to survive was overwhelming Tanya. Then one day something happened to her benefit.

     Tanya met a guy named Michael. They started talking and eventually going out places. They would talk on the phone all night. Tanya finally seemed to get that happy feeling back and she remembered her dad's words, “Everything is going to be okay." Then Michael asked Tanya out on a date and they officially started dating on November 23rd. At the beginning, Michael was just like Tanya's dad. He would spoil her and treat her like a princess. Everything was perfect and life finally seemed to get better. Tanya had surgery less frequently. The doctors started to see improvements in Tanya. In fact, Tanya's health improved as well, but nothing stays perfect forever. 

     As their relationship went on, problems and arguments started to increase. Michael would either be too busy or just wouldn't give Tanya as much time as he did earlier. Everything just started to get complicated. From family problems to health issues, Michael and Tanya experienced almost everything. Even though they made up after every argument, they seemed to argue almost every day. Tanya didn't care how much they argued. As long as they loved each other, that was all that was important to her. Tanya believed arguments occurred between everyone, whether siblings, parents, friends, or just anyone. Tanya believed that problems were just temporary, but love was permanent. Because of that one belief, Tanya and Michael kept their relationship strong. Then one day Michael did something Tanya wasn't expecting and left her shocked.

     After having been dating for a couple years, Michael proposed to Tanya. He had been planning to do it for a really long time, but Tanya had no idea. On Tanya's birthday, Michael put a ring on the top layer of Tanya's cake. Speechless and shocked, Tanya said yes to marrying Michael. Finally, Tanya and Michael talked to their parents. Once their parents agreed, they got  married. Once again, their lives seemed to be falling back in place. Tanya went through her last surgery done and was cured of her thyroid cancer. Tanya had ups and downs in her life, but in the end everything seemed to be okay, just like her father had told her.