she was so loving. she would always tell us stories and reporter: stories about what? one that we always loved was one called the woman on the moon. and it s a vietnamese love story about if you looked really hard enough that the shadows on the moon kind of looks like a woman with long flowing hair. and the same day of the year she would come down looking for the one that she loved. well, ultimately, she was trapped on the moon to watch over him. reporter: folklore is the kind of reality that is like armor for a child. it protects in a time of terror. michael was 11 when his mother learned she had breast cancer, but she did not tell him. she protected him from the worst of it, both he and his 14-year-old sister michelle. and so when the cancer finally took her life it came as a shock. she died december 1st, 1999. and we had just seen her for thanksgiving, maybe about a week ago. reporter: now alone, michael
she would always tell us stories and stories about what? one that we always loved was one called the woman on the moon. and it s a vietnamese love story about if you looked really hard enough that the shadows on the moon kind of looks like a woman with long flowing hair. and the same day of the year she would come down looking for the one that she loved. well, ultimately, she was trapped on the moon to watch over him. folklore is the kind of reality that is like armor for a child. it protects in a time of terror. michael was 11 when his mother learned she had breast cancer, but she did not tell him. she protected him from the worst of it, both he and his 14-year-old sister michelle. and so when the cancer finally took her life it came as a shock. she died december 1st, 1999. and we had just seen her for thanksgiving, maybe about a week ago.
and the same day of the year she would come down looking for the one that she loved. well, ultimately, she was trapped on the moon to watch over him. reporter: folklore is the kind of reality that is like armor for a child. armor for a child. it protects in a time of terror. michael was 11 when his mother learned she had breast cancer, but she did not tell him. she protected him from the worst of it, both he and his 14-year-old sister michelle. and so when the cancer finally took her life it came as a shock. she died december 1st, 1999. and we had just seen her for thanksgiving, maybe about a week ago. reporter: now alone, michael and michelle were taken in by krystine s family. she told me a story about how, after her mom passed away, she didn t even know what to do at first until she saw michael in the garage holding something of his mom s and crying. she told me you know, that was the time i knew it was time to be, you know, a big sister and be a mother figure for him.
and she was an incredible mother to us. she was so loving. she would always tell us stories and reporter: stories about what? one that we always loved was one called the woman on the moon. and it s a vietnamese love story about if you looked really hard enough that the shadows on the moon kind of looks like a woman with long flowing hair. and the same day of the year she would come down looking for the one that she loved. well, ultimately, she was trapped on the moon to watch over him. reporter: folklore is the kind of reality that is like armor for a child. it protects in a time of terror. michael was 11 when his mother learned she had breast cancer, but she did not tell him. she protected him from the worst of it, both he and his 14-year-old sister michelle. and so when the cancer finally took her life it came as a shock. she died december 1st, 1999. and we had just seen her for thanksgiving, maybe about a week ago. reporter: now alone, michael and michelle were taken i