But I also remembered being struck from a very young age with the difference between how people talked about my brother’s illness and my mother’s illness. She had the double challenge of not only confronting an illness, but confronting the prejudice and stigma of being someone who society felt didn’t deserve the same medical care and sympathy as her son with cancer. “My mother has been such an example to me,” I said. “And I want to tell you today, my mother is my profile in courage for all that she’s done to stand up to this stigma.”
