In this Ultimate Blog Challenge, we were asked to write about “Who do you admire and why?”
So much came to mind.
Who to choose? You don’t get to be my age and not meet a number of people who are amazing and admirable. I admire people who work really hard to reach their goals even when the goals seem out of reach. I admire people with integrity. I admire people who are kind, considerate and patient.
From working with so many people in GED, ESL, and Family Literacy classes, I admire those people who persevered even through obstacles and hardships. I was proud to know them and happy that I could share their journey.
But most of all, I admire my parents who worked really hard all their lives and made a wonderful home for my brother, sister and me and made our family special.
Both came from humble beginnings. My father was one of 7 children and my mother one of 5. My mother never graduated from high school, leaving at age16 to help support her family. My father also dropped out of high school. When I was little, he went to night classes after working his full time job. He was really good at math, but struggled with reading. He persevered and finally got his GED. When I was older, my mother started a jewelry business with her sister. My parents instilled in us that hard work is important. You do what you have to do to get the job done.
It is that work ethic that helped me after the stroke. I got up every morning and got dressed. This may seem insignificant, but to me this was so important. Two days before my stroke, I had a planned surgery and was planning to have a really lazy weekend. It was Mother's Day and both my children live in other states. So, I planned to stay in my pajamas and watch TV or movies all weekend and early the next week. I knew it would be a painful surgery and recovery (rotator cuff repair) and I consoled myself with this thought of being absolutely lazy. All that changed with the stroke. Now it was not just a temporary issue, recovery would be my life.
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