My children make me want to show them that no matter what obstacles come their way their goals can still be achieved. When I was a teenager, after highschool, my college career stopped abruptly due to an abusive relationship. When my son, now 8, was born I waited until he was about two to return to school and finish the degree that was my dream all along. Before marrying my husband almost a year ago, everything was up to me. My son and I relied on my income and we were on our own. His patience and his curiosity of what mom was doing was both support and motivation to continue. As a child of a single mother, I watched her struggle to care for two of us without any help from our father. She came home from work several times each week crying from stress. We would go to work with her after school or daycare because she couldn't finish what she had to do before picking us up. Many nights we did homework in her office. Or we walked through a rubber manufacturing plant to do homework on the loading dock while she completing the shipping documents needed for a load. My mother worked her tail off to keep us afloat, but she also never attended college. She never had a degree to move on to another career. As of the first of January of this year, she is officially retired from that position after 46 years. As a mother myself, I have vowed to show my son that I will do anything it takes to take care of us, but I also want to be able to be around more than my mother was able to be, through no real fault of her own. My son deserves his mom's attention after work everyday and with a career using my college education I'll be able to provide that for him.

Dogs are the most wonderful creatures given to us. From a true companion to a protector, they dedicate their whole lives to us. I've had many dogs throughout my life and have never been without one, literally. My oldest, Max, was sixteen years old when I lost him. He was with me from the time I moved into my first apartment and stayed by my side until the day I had to make the hardest choice ever. He protected me from two awful people, he never left my side when I was sad and he gave me the best laughs I've ever had. He was my person. Max taught me that love is unconditional and that loyalty is from the heart. We had many days of walking around in the woods where I just talked to him. Max would stop sniffing once in a while, turn around and jump up for one of his best slobbery kisses. Max was ten weeks old when I got him asks he stayed with me through two abusive relationships, a divorce, the birth of my son and so many other events in life. As he aged, it was discovered that he had arthritis. He had the best doggie bed I could get for him, but he chose to follow me around the house and sleep on any floor or piece of furniture he could. We were always together. I'll never forget the last week he was with me. My old boy was fighting congestive heart failure and declining. I knew the day was coming and thought he would go on his own. However, his last day I came home from work to find half of his head swollen, but he was acting normal. We made a beeline to the vet. Something wasn't right. After scans and blood work I was told it was likely cancer and he just couldn't survive the treatment. He would continue to decline and most likely be in pain. I had to make the hardest choice ever. My best friend, literally, needed me to do what would be best for him. It was killing me inside to know it meant losing him. I told him repeatedly that I loved him and thanked him for loving me. We put him to sleep that day. The vet was a good friend and let me cry my eyes out for almost an hour with him after he was gone. My baby came home with me and was laid to rest under his favorite tree. Max showed me what true love and true friendship were; for that I'll always be grateful. He made life light and continues to do so with all of our memories.