Carol Ofori celebrates Joy Steffens aka Mamabearsteffs
"I
never thought that when I said I would follow his journey and carry on living
his dream, my life would be like it is now." - Joy Steffens.
Joy Steffens, aka Mamabearsteffens, has made such an impression online with her bubbly energy and infectious smile. But her story stems from sadness and a will to be strong for her beloved son, Dylan.
Carol Ofori celebrates Mamabearsteffens as our Woman Crush Wednesday this week.
Steffens shared how she found healing, strength, and comfort in music. She took up her journey in music after losing her son, Dylan, who passed on in 2016 due to liver cancer.
Dylan surprised his mother when he took the news of his cancer in such a positive way. "I said, 'The doctor told me that you have a tumour on your liver which is cancerous, and it has to be removed'.” He responded by saying, "Mom, don’t cry. At least we know the cause now, and we can deal with it from here."
From thereon, it was an uphill battle to find doctors and coordinate Dylan's fight against cancer without chemotherapy and radiation. Still, one thing Mamabearsteffens promised herself was that she wouldn't let her child see her cry.
Seeing her son go through this would not have been easy, but she stayed by his side, and they did everything together. She supported his choice not to go for treatment, but his dad didn't handle it that well.
One of the special people who supported Dylan's journey asked her friends not to buy her any gifts but instead to donate money to Dylan. Dylan had a passion for music, particularly learning how to deejay. Things took a turn for the positive more than once, with Dylan receiving an opportunity to study a course in deejaying.
I stayed positive for him, but every day was a hard day to face the reality that this liver cancer was getting the better of him. He was such a social guy and loved his friends who were amazing and fetched him to go and have fun with them, but the going out starting getting less and less as he just wanted to be at home.
Even with their move from East London to Johannesburg and the support from Joy's partner, both financially and emotionally, Dylan's fight was too much for him.
He passed in 2016 as he slept next to his mother. She was not prepared for her massive loss because she always stayed positive throughout their journey.
But it seems that she found solace in music, just as her son did, and that is when her journey in music began.
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