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Jacque
Lenz | Chief Photographer
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| Ruthie N. Smitha, a senior communication
disorders major, stands beside her red Volkswagon
van that meant so much to her family. |
Everyone has a story.
Students walk around campus everyday with a thousand things
on their minds. Aside from the daily stresses and demands
of college student, there is just plain life weighing on
the shoulders of every student, staff and faculty member.
Ruthie N. Smitha is one of these students, and in the past
year, the realities of life have opened her eyes and her
heart to what truly matters.
In the year 2002, Smitha’s parents were both diagnosed
with cancer. Her mother was diagnosed in July 2002 and her
father in November 2002.
When one looks at her, her story doesn’t immediately
surface. Her smile coupled with her red hair make her hard
to miss, but many may not see the story behind her kind blue
eyes.
Symptoms of a problem
Suzanne Smitha, Ruthie’s mother, had complained of
stomach pains before Ruthie left to spend the summer in Grand
Lake, Colorado, but it was thought to be a minor problem.
Suzanne Smitha called Ruthie to inform her that it was colon
cancer, but that it would be treatable and that with surgery
and chemotherapy, the cancer could be controlled.
“My mom always reassured me that she was fine, that
everything would be okay, but I know she wanted me to enjoy
the rest of my summer, but it was hard to not be with her,
“ Smitha said.
“I was with Ruthie when she found out, and I think
this was the first time I had ever known her to have to search
for her strength,” senior special education major Jadyn
M. Sabat said.
When Ruthie returned from Colorado, Suzanne’s cancer
and treatments had begun taking their toll.
“She was so skinny, it was hard to see her so sick,”
Smitha said.
After a few days in the hospital in the beginning of September,
Suzanne’s health began to improve.
Following her surgery a few weeks later, she was on the road
to recovery, but nowhere near back to health, when another
blow came.
A stomach virus caused Ruthie’s father, Arthur “Bubba”
Smitha, to see a doctor for the first time in 10 years.
During this visit, a rare form of bone cancer, multiple miloma,
was found everywhere in his body.
Life changes
“When my mom called to say my dad was in the hospital
being treated for a virus, I knew in my gut it was cancer.
I just knew,” Smitha said.
Smitha had been traveling home every weekend, and after her
mother’s surgery there was hope that life may begin
to have more normalcy.
When she learned of her father’s cancer, however, she
knew her life was about to change forever.
“I would come to school for four days, then travel
back to Charlotte on the weekends. School was an escape though,”
Smitha said.
Winter Break came and Bubba was admitted to the hospital
where he remained for the next six weeks.
“I would go to the hospital all day, then try to see
my friends at night, but it was on my mind every second,”
Smitha said.
As her world suddenly became filled with cards, food and
visitors with words of support and hope, she, her mother
and her 19-year-old sister watched as the aggressive treatments
slowly sickened her father.
“It was hard to watch him go from being strong and
independent to having to have help sitting up,” Smitha
said.
Losing a loved one
After a three-month battle with cancer, that he was thought
to have had for nearly six years, Bubba passed away in his
sleep on Feb. 10, 2003.
“It is still so hard to believe that he is gone. It
is easier when I am at school, because I am used to him not
being here, but when I am at home in Charlotte, I expect
to see him everywhere I go,” Smitha said.
Suzanne completed her chemotherapy treatments as of April
2003.
“My mother has been my biggest support, she is a survivor
and my greatest strength,” Smitha said.
After returning to school, Ruthie’s story remains at
the brims of her eyes, but her triumph lies in the inspiration
she may bring to other students.
“Ruthie has showed courage through all of this, and
the family has become a lot closer," Suzanne Smitha
said.
Her 3.67 grade point average for spring 2003 reflects her
attitude towards the future.
“I knew that I had to stay focused in school,"
she said. "People have told me that I am strong, but
I feel like I am just doing what I am supposed to do.”
Looking to the past
Ruthie, a senior communication disorders major, plans on
a celebration for her May 2004 graduation, the day that seemed
so far away four years ago.
Four years ago, she never imagined that her father would
not be in the audience to see her walk across the stage to
receive her degree.
“It is amazing how something like this really does
change your perspective on life, but I am so thankful for
every day,” Smitha said.
Ruthie’s parents drove a big red Volkswagen van that
could not be missed in around her hometown of Matthews.
After her father passed away, her mother purchased a 2003
EuroVan, but cannot part with the old one and the memories
it held.
“After my mom got one, it worked out that I could get
a new car as well, and now, well, we are both driving big
red Euro Vans, and we still have the old one,” Smitha
said.
“Life is funny that way. I know my dad is looking down
and smiling at us in our big vans, and watching me figure
out what the heck I am going to do with the rest of my life,
and I know that everything is going to be alright."
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