Holly Harris Anderson

Welcome to Holly's CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

Holly was first diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2007.  As with everything she does, she researched and visited with a few doctors before assembling the best possible team, including Dr. Colleen Austin at Atlanta Cancer Care and Dr. Phil Beegle at Atlanta Plastic Surgery.  She started on this journey supported by many friends and her devoted family and was fortunate to have five years of remission. In February 2012, breast cancer returned, now called metastatic (meaning spreading throughout her body) breast cancer, for which there is no cure.  Most recently it returned to her brain, causing us to consult with Dr. Austin to make the decision to not put her through any more painful procedures and treatments, but opting for quality of life and comfort for her. So she is now in hospice care--at home. 

Holly is the definition of a steel magnolia; she gets this from our mother--the original steel magnolia in the Harris family.  Holly is strong, brave, beautiful and has had a lot of people fooled about what she has been going through for the past five years. But this is what makes her Holly. 
Ever the entertainer and hostess, she has always loved having dinner parties, family dinners and birthday celebrations in her beautiful home, preparing wonderful  meals for family and friends.  Outside of the kitchen, the garden is her other favorite place, perfecting her roses, hydrangeas, herbs, figs, and potted plants, ensuring proper placement, color arrangement and time in the sunlight. Once a master gardener, always a master gardener!

As much as Holly loves cooking and gardening, they don't compare to her greatest accomplishment--her children. Will and Caroline are her pride and joy and her reason for bravely fighting cancer for so long.  They make her (and the rest of us) so proud.  She also has a large and loving family spread out from Virginia to New Mexico, many of whom have been to visit her in the past week.  And friends galore! She is also an avid Tar Heel fan, loving it when her Heels recently won the national championship. 

We love you all and thank you so much for your prayers and for loving our sweet Holly!