Circumstance forged Plouffe's bond with mom

"It's just such a good mother-son relationship," Diane Plouffe said of Trevor. (Courtesy of Diane Plouffe)MINNEAPOLIS -- Trevor Plouffe was a freshman in high school when he heard the life-changing news. His mother, Diane, had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

It rocked Plouffe's world, as his older brother, Marshall, was already off to college, roughly 400 miles away at Sacramento State, leaving the 15-year-old to help care for his mother and his sister, Paige, who is seven years younger.

"It was tough time," Plouffe said. "It was something I never thought could happen to my family. And all of a sudden it's happening to you, and your family and your mother. It was just my mom, my sister and…