Catherine Crews, a retired Oxford resident, was given just six months to live in May. She wanted to live long enough to cast her vote in the 2024 presidential election, which she did when the absentee voting period began on September 23. Below is her story in her own words.

Ever since our children were very young, we made it a tradition in our family to vote together on Election Day, whether it be a local, state or national election.

We would get up early, before school and work, go to our voting location together and vote as a family. We followed that with a quick breakfast at our favorite local restaurant before taking the children to school. We instilled in them the importance of voting. 

Now that our three children are grown, with children of their own, my husband Billy and I still plan our day around voting when any election comes around. 

Throughout our 45 years together, we have also placed importance in supporting candidates who run for office at every level. Although we tend to vote more frequently for Democrats, Billy is fond of saying, “We are Jack Reed Republicans, and William Winter Democrats”. (Jack Reed ran for governor in 1987 and William Winter became our beloved governor in 1979.)  To us, the person running for office is more important than their political party. 

Fast-forward to this year’s election — one of the most important of my lifetime, I believe — I found myself in a different situation. After surviving a rare and aggressive cancer (NUT Carcinoma) in 2013, where I had a 3% chance of survival, the effects of 32 radiation treatments wreaked havoc on my mouth. Over the last 10 years I have undergone nine mouth surgeries, including two jaw transplants.

Earlier this year, my health took a turn for the worse. Bone deterioration from all the radiation and infection developed in my lower right jaw. Surgery is not an option for me. My doctors told me I would have six months to live.

After receiving this news from my doctors on May 23, Billy and I sat in shock and sadness. The effects of this cancer caught up with me. My thoughts immediately went to, “What do I need to do in the six months I have left?” As lists of things to accomplish scrolled through my mind, voting was among some of my top priorities. We laugh about this now, but from my hospital room, I insisted that Billy call our circuit clerk’s office in Oxford and find out the first available date for absentee voting. His friend and our Circuit Clerk Jeff Busby told him, “September 23.” I remember thinking I would not make it until then because the last two infections I’ve had this year have come on hard and fast.

Well, here I am. I made it. On Monday, Sept. 23, I got to absentee vote on the first day available to Mississippians. After our weekly visit from our hospice nurse, Billy and I walked up to the Lafayette County Courthouse, just a few blocks from our home, and I cast my vote. I was so happy to have made it to this point and to share with my friends on Facebook, just as I’ve done regularly with those who have “walked with me” and supported me since 2013. 

To me, it was like any other heartfelt Facebook post I had written about my health journey. But this time, something different happened. Friends kept sharing it and sharing it, and the next thing I knew, it had gone viral. Our friend, Brandon Presley, who came so close to winning his bid for governor of our great state, shared it with people in higher places. Another dear friend, Emily LeCoz, shared it with USA Today. The next thing I knew, Michael Collins, White House correspondent for USA Today, called me for a 45-minute interview to write an article, and vice presidential hopeful Tim Walz was reading my Facebook post at a campaign event in Minneapolis.

Here is the essence of my Facebook post and motivation for voting:

In this presidential election of 2024… 

• I cast the last vote of my lifetime to preserve democracy in the United States of America and around the world. 
• I cast the last vote of my lifetime to protect the Constitution of the United States of America, and the rule of law.
• I cast the last vote of my lifetime for honesty, decency and integrity. 
• I cast the last vote of my lifetime for loving my neighbor, regardless of their race, their religion, and who they love. 
• I cast the last vote of my lifetime for innocent immigrants who want to live, and contribute, and be a part of this great country, but who have been targets of political hate and rhetoric.
• I cast the last vote of my lifetime for women to have the right to make decisions about their own body.  
• I cast the last vote of my lifetime for the building up of poor and middle-class Americans. 
• On behalf of our six precious grandchildren, I proudly cast the last vote of my lifetime for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

The deadline to register to vote is Monday, October 7 at 5 p.m. Please exercise your right and privilege to have a voice in this election.

Take it from me: Few things are more important.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.