Taylor Swift's Mother Has Been Diagnosed With Cancer

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Taylor Swift's mother, Andrea Finlay Swift, has been diagnosed with cancer, according to a post titled "Just so you know..." published to Taylor's Tumblr page earlier today.

Taylor requested that, as a Christmas present, her mother see a doctor for a health screening. The singer had been worried about her mother's health, and hoped that a visit to the clinic would give them both some peace of mind. The doctors returned with a cancer diagnosis. At her mom's request, Taylor shared the news to her Tumblr page in order to encourage other mothers and parents to get routine checkups at the doctor.

... your parents may be too busy juggling everything they've got going on to go to the doctor, and maybe you reminding them to go get checked for cancer could possibly lead to an early diagnosis and an easier battle.

While this is heartbreaking news for Taylor's millions of fans, it hits home for me because I knew Taylor's family. Having grown up in the same town as the Swifts, my memories of Andrea date back to middle school. Taylor's younger brother, Austin, was in my class at a small private elementary school called Wyndcroft in Pennsylvania. Taylor was two years ahead of us.

Andrea, who I referred to at that time as Mrs. Swift, would often come in, wearing a necklace with a small perfume bottle hanging from it. At our requests, she'd go around to each of us young girls and give us a little bit of the perfume. We'd walk around afterwards smelling and feeling as though we had been baptized into womanhood.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Swift family. Encourage your parents to get regular checkups, and make sure you do the same. You can have fortune and fame, but at the end of the day, health outweighs everything.

[Photo: Getty Images]