A Deserving Winner of Emeril's Breakfast in Bed Contest

Feb. 14, 2006 — -- Jackie DeVito has been the center of attention ever since she was a little girl. Everyone who knew her said that even when she was young, she had something special. By all accounts, DeVito, of Venice, Fla., is the glue that holds her family together.

"In our family of eight people, she was the doer," said her sister Colleen Leary. "She got things done."

But last summer, the promising life of the mother of three and wife of a dental surgeon took a painful turn. She started experiencing headaches so debilitating that she had trouble moving.

"The headaches were not going away, and she had no motivation to get out of bed. The kids were wondering where Mommy was at," said her brother Jeff Leary.

Doctors told her that she had a brain tumor and that the prognosis was not good. They told her that she should begin thinking about what to tell her children and maybe even write them letters.

"It was very scary that my mom was all of a sudden diagnosed with a brain tumor," said Jackie DeVito's son Richie. "She was just like, 'Richie, Mommy has this and it will be all right. Just don't worry about me.' Life isn't forever. You really got to appreciate every day and take every day one day at a time."

DeVito's family has pulled together, and they remain hopeful.

"It's been hard, but I know that every day she will make it," said Richie DeVito. "She is going to get through it."

All through the years, Leary was DeVito's best friend, or, as her mother called her, "Jackie's angel." The sisters are one year apart in age and share the same birthday. Leary said everyone thought they were twins.

"She's the best," Leary said. "I couldn't ask for a better sister -- a better friend. She always has been there for me."

"It's like one takes one breath and exhales and the other one breathes," said their mother, Christine Leary. "It's like they are one. It's always been like that."

Colleen Leary quit her job and moved in with her sister's family.