She Keeps Fighting

In a world full of wonderful and beautiful women, it takes a strong and powerful woman to make a difference. It may be in small ways, or in huge movements, but as a woman we always touch someone in some way. Growing up, everyone has ups and downs, good and bad, happy and sad memories. My mother always taught me that my past does not define who I want and can be. Inspiring others is not just something she does, but it is a part of her being. She has been my rock, my life preserver, my home ever since she gave birth. For about 20 years, she lived with a textbook Narcissistic Sociopath. That means not only did he abuse her emotionally and physically, he would isolate her and make her and others around her think she was crazy. People of this charisma seem to fall into our life’s path like bugs are attracted to light. For years and years, having a certain facade out of the house compared to what life was like behind closed doors was normal. Through all of these terrible and monstrous things that he would do, my mother still taught me to be kind and to have compassion for those who are going through a rough time, even though it may seem like a small problem to me, it may be huge in their eyes. I remember we would have little ‘vacations’ from him during the weekend. We would go out to town and spend hours and hours looking for cute little shops and local businesses to explore. In each shop my mother would always take the time to talk with the owners and workers, getting to know them and listening to their problems, always have a kind smile and words to offer them. This has always stuck with me through everything, it did not matter what was going on with her life, and she would always strive to help these people no matter what her emotions were. When everyone left us, she became not just my mom, but my dad as well. Being the powerful and strong independent woman, she finally fought for her freedom from an extremely unhealthy marriage and succeeded. My mom graduated from college for her counseling degree, which she has always dreamed of helping others in need since she was little. I know for a fact, every day she went to work, she worked extremely hard to give people the correct care they needed. She does not gloat about her achievements but is humble and barely accepts praise for all of the hours of care she provides. For all of this and more, she inspires me to keep fighting, to keep being kind, to keep believing in myself even when others doubt. Not a lot of people can say that through all that she has gone through, they have succeeded and turned their life into something worth fighting for. I take that back, all of our lives (shitty or not) are worth fighting for, for the chance to make it better. And this fighting chance is what she has given myself and countless others. More recently she was hospitalized for a while due to a series of unfortunate events and with the final diagnosis being Pre-Leukemia. And throughout this whole process, it has opened up my eyes even more to see all of the beauty she has inside and out. It has been tough to see her fight with a reason to keep on living, not being able to work for others to provide a way to make her life mean something. Through the struggle, her final outcome was to say and think was ‘No. People need me so I will stay.’ With this new and refreshed thought process, she has gone through chemo and a transplant with a new found determination, the only thought is of how many more people’s lives she can touch and change with this new renewal of life. Seeing her give and give when she herself has nothing left, is such an aspiration not just to me but for others as well. I hope to become even half the woman she is. Independent, strong, powerful, are all words that are perfect descriptors of why she inspires myself now and for the rest of my life.