My mom

In April 2009, my mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Throughout the next two-plus years, I took her to many of her doctor appointments. After I started helping out on the official campaign -- on the Twitter and Facebook accounts, etc. -- she would brag to her oncologist and others about it.

When I returned from my first trip to the campaign, she got a huge kick out of the stories -- I am usually fairly quiet, but you couldn't shut me up for a few days, as I was always remembering some detail I had forgotten earlier -- and the pictures of the trip.

My next trip to Iowa was going to be for the Ames Straw Poll, but about a week before, my mom regressed and had to be into hospice. I didn't really want to tell anyone on the campaign -- for various reasons -- what was happening, but I had to tell Adam Waldeck that I wouldn't be able to make it to Iowa. His response -- something like "I knew it...you're joining Perry's campaign -- was able to make me laugh. (My response to him was "Nope...Bernie Sanders 2016.")

On the day of the Ames Debate, she was able to come home. So I dropped her off and hurried -- Twitter debate duty was in less than an hour! -- to get her favorite Mexican food. Thankfully, she was able to eat it with no problems, something that became more rare.

That night, as I mentioned in my last post, was really the night Newt 2012 started going up.

Unfortunately, my mom was slowly losing her two-and-a-half year battle and had to be placed back into the Hospice house at the beginning of September. I mentioned in my post yesterday that the day September 13 -- when Allen Olson endorsed the campaign -- really stuck out. The reason I still remember the date is that the next morning, at about 5:30, I got a call saying that my mom had had a rough night and, while she wouldn't be aware I was there, if I wanted to say goodbye I should hurry.

I got my shoes on and got in my car. As I was backing out of the driveway, though, I got another call. She had passed away.

I called family members after I got to the Hospice house. While waiting for my grandparents to arrive, the only thing I really remember was tweeting the link to Olson's Facebook post on why he was supporting Newt.

It was nice over the next few months to have the campaign to pour all my free time into. Like I said yesterday, it helped me get over the rough time. I had had a long time to come to grips with the inevitable, so it didn't hit me real hard when it finally happened. But I have no doubt the campaign helped me out.

Thank you to everyone who has read this blog and who I have communicated with.

My plan is to keep all the posts on here, but I will start posting on more general topics. I hope you will like it!