People I Admire

Courage comes in many forms, and many times we don't know where it lies within us. Often we need some extraordinary circumstance to bring that courage out of it's hiding place. And sometimes, the act of continuing day to day is the most couragous thing a person can do.

The Vegeterian works with children who have AIDS. Since I have known her, two of her kids have died of the disease, one of whom she was with when he died. She was devestated by this, but she still continues to go back to work, day after day. She takes great joy in being a part of these kid's lives. I have never said this to her, but I am awed by her courage. I take loss exceptionally hard. I know there is no way I could continue to work with people I knew I would have to say goodbye to in that way. Her spirit humbles me.

My mom grew up poor, was the only daughter with five brothers, and had an alcoholic father. After graduating from high school, she worked as a secretary for the FBI in Washington. She met my father on a blind date, fell in love with the uniform (he was in the Air Force) and married him. They moved to Florida so he could attend college, and that was when the first signs of his mental illness began to show itself too her. For twenty years, she tried to hold together a family in the face of my father's alcoholism and mental instability. After they seperated, she battled depression while working 14 hours a day and trying to continue to raise me. I could not have endured what she has; I would have curled up into a ball and let the world go on without me. But my mother would not shirk her responsibility to her children. She persevered and did what was necessary day in and day out. I cannot imagine the strength it took to survive the first 40 years of her life, but I hope some of that strength has passed into me.

Both of these women are an inspiration to me. I feel lucky to have shared a part of life with them.