Mother's day this year is particularly special to 19 Kids and Counting star Jill Duggar's husband Derick Dillard because Mother's Day 2014 was almost the last he had with his mum.
"You have to know how this holiday went for my family and me last year," he wrote in the Dillard Family Blog. "My mum had recently been diagnosed with stage 4 Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, the most aggressive form nonetheless. She had been instructed to remain as isolated as possible from people because the intense chemotherapy had acted as an atom bomb on her body and her immune system had been all but completely wiped out."
At that time, Derick and Jill were happily engaged but they still tried to spend as much time as possible with his mother, Cathy Byrum, despite the doctors' orders.
They treasured every moment they had with her and last Mother's day, they attended services at Derick's childhood church and took one of the roses being passed out to give to Cathy.
"Upon arriving at the house, we had to leave the rose outside because even a flower could be enough to make her sick. We put our gloves and masks on to protect her, and then we finally entered the house," he said.
A lot has happened since that time, and Derick thanks God for giving his mother a story of triumph over cancer. Now, he is celebrating another mother in his life - his wife Jill, who just gave birth to their first-born son Israel David Dillard.
"This year my mum is celebrating not only Mother's Day, but also her first Mother's Day as a grandmother," he said. "My mum's story of battle and triumph over cancer is nothing short of a miracle, performed by the one true God, our Lord Jesus Christ, through many medical personnel to whom I am eternally grateful."
Next to Jill, Derick considers his mother the most special woman in the world and he feels blessed to have been raised to love the Word of God.
