When I walked into the Oncology Department of the hospital with my mom, we were greeted by a masked figure in a cape. It was my sister, Shelli. Or Super Woman as we’ve taken to calling her. I bought her the mask and cape for Christmas. She embodies everything a super hero is on the inside. I figured it was important that it showed on the outside as well.

There are fewer things I’m proud of than how my family has walked the walk when it comes to supporting each other through difficult times. As I reminisced with my mom recently, it hasn’t been a great year for the Stempkowski clan, starting with my dad’s steep health decline and death in August, followed quickly by my sister’s breast cancer diagnosis, then my mom’s hospitalization in January rounded out the “bad things come in three’s”.

But when I returned to my sleepy hometown in Indiana recently, it wasn’t to mourn, it was to celebrate. I wanted to be at the hospital for my sister’s final chemotherapy session. We needed a “win” and this was it! Losing our dad has rocked all of us, but my sister Shelli has been steadfast and optimistic since her diagnosis shortly after his death. Through two surgeries and many rounds of treatment, she has kept smiling. She embodies optimism and hope. It reminds me of how Ken led us through his cancer treatments. Like him, she set the tone that the rest of us eagerly followed and supported.

With what we hope is the worse behind her, we can focus on the summer and continue to support on each other as we move forward in our little tribe, tending to one another whether it’s virtually on our family group chat or in person when I get the chance to go to Indiana. I’m grateful that we’ve all been able to support and love each other so openly and so easily.

Above everything else, we are walking the kind of walk Dad would be proud of (and, frankly, the kind he would have expected us to walk.)