Architect, Art Lover, Cancer Survivor, Mom, Traveler, Foodie
WHAT I ADMIRE ABOUT HER
– I don’t know if it is her mixture of Ecuadorian upbringing plus French schooling, but sitting and having a cup of coffee with her is to really enjoy a good coffee and the art of conversation.
– She has a maturity beyond her age, as my grandma would say: of an old soul, that show true depth.
– Though after her cancer, Lucia lives with the possibility of it coming back, she lives life fully for the moment and embraces what she does with earnest.
– After just finishing her first round of chemo when her older daughter entered a public school in San Francisco, she became fully involved with the school becoming a co-chair PTA president representing the latino community at her school.
– One year after her cancer came back and she had a major surgery to get her tumors removed, and five years after she took time off from work to be with the kids, she just went back to work at the DeYoung museum as a special projects manager.
– Her love of art and how the desire to see it and learn more about it always motivated her even in her darkest moments to go out and look around.
HER STATEMENT
“I am a 39 year-old woman that was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer at age 35, and then again with stage 4 cancer less than a year ago -after being in remission for almost two years. I am also the mother of two young daughters, and I am also a person full of energy, projects, and dreams. I don’t want for cancer to define me as a human being, but rather all the other “stuff” that has been part of me for longer, my essence, my substance.
Being diagnosed with advanced cancer is hard for any human being, but when you are also responsible for the lives of two young kids (the people that you love most in life), such news can feel like an insurmountable weight. But, after almost four decades of continuous learning, I have also realized that life is not a straight line, and that things can quickly change, for better or for worse. In my very particular situation, I took on the “power-through” perspective, try to move forward, and not get stuck with the C label. That was, and still is, an option for me.
I have always loved challenges, so I took on some new challenges, to keep doing what I like, and also because, more than ever, I need to feel useful and alive. Right after chemo I became PTA president at our very active elementary school, and I have also focused on doing more of what brings me joy: absorbing as much art as I can, teaching my kids how to cook and sew (and hopefully how to be compassionate and stand-up for themselves), carving valuable time in my friends’ busy lives, reserving the summers for my parents nurturing rapport, and traveling -not necessarily to very exotic places, but to my own meaningful destinations.
So here I am, still rolling the dice, trying to savor every moment of life (the silver lining about cancer), and once again going after my more “modest” but meaningful projects. So far so good, one day at the time.”
Women Playing Hopscotch 