Amy Simmons
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles featuring four honorees for the 2018 Kickin’ Cancer’s Can community event that will be held Sept. 28 at Parker’s Park in Overlake.
When asked about her favorite memory growing up, Stansbury-resident and mother of four, Amy Simmons, responds, “That is an impossible question.”
Raised in Magna within walking distance of grandparents and countless cousins, Amy describes her childhood as idyllic. It was complete with magical holidays and birthdays and endless hours of horseback riding, fort making and night games out in the countryside with her family.
She grew up completely surrounded by those she loved, knowing they loved her in return.
Amy has since devoted her life to creating the same kind of idyllic childhood for her own children. She and her husband, Collin, are parents to Mack, age 10, Sadie, 7, Elsie, 4, and Luke,
Creating happy, beautiful memories for their children is Amy’s greatest passion in life.
From learning about weather patterns and rock formations to baking homemade pizza together on Friday nights to bike rides, playing in the back yard and even making slime together, Amy happily declares that her little family is what she lives for.
Living in the moment with her little family is exactly what Amy has been doing since being diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer a little over one year ago.
Although cancer seems to have taken over much of her life and brought even her little children into the thick of the battle, being diagnosed with a terminal illness has taught them all to hold on tight to all the little moments.
“Tomorrow is not promised to any of us,” she says, but having this diagnosis has forever ended the days when they lived in “limbo” waiting for the next phase of life to begin. Now, they savor and fully enjoy every moment.
In addition her ‘round-the clock mother duties, Amy is a dedicated nurse at Mountain West Medical Center in the labor and delivery department.
While nursing can be a grueling field, she has created extended family bonds with the strong, smart, and compassionate women at the medical center.
She loves to travel, write her Amy’s Hope blog, and shares a special talent for party planning.
She is a woman of great faith who declares that she believes in a God of miracles. Yet, she also knows that perhaps a miracle for her may look different than a miracle for another.
“I know whose hands I am in and I will trust in the miracles I have been blessed with already in my life.”
In the meantime, she is overwhelmed with the outpouring of support she continues to receive from family, friends, church members, community, and even complete strangers.
Kickin’ Cancer’s Can community event and fundraiser for four local families will be held at Parker’s Park in Overlake on Sept. 28 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more details about the fundraiser, visit kickincancerscan.com.