The Amazing Surfer Cecilia Rose

Eileen was married for twenty-five years to her best friend John, and together they had three children, two girls, and one boy. Her marriage ended in 1985 when John was tragically killed by a drunk driver. When my mother learned of my father’s death by the police department, she had a complete “meltdown”. How was she going to raise her three children? How

My best friend Leah Nepomuceno is one of the strongest people I know, especially when it comes to family. Family to her is everything and she has done all she can to try and keep hers together as a whole. We were in sixth grade swinging on the swings outside at recess, whispering and giggling about our usual gossip when she received news from one of our teachers that we knew was serious by the look on her face and fear in her voice. She came up to us and told her she needed to go the office and that she was being dismissed, she gave me permission to walk with her inside. On the short but long felt walk inside Leah's heart was pounding, her hands were sweating, and her eyes were slowly filling with tears. Her mom was

mother died of lung cancer. After these devastating events took place, it was a phone call from her twin sister Becka, and knowing that therapy alone or coupled with AA weren’t enough to break her physical and emotional addiction with alcohol, that

Amy Lyles Wilson father’s passed away and left her mom widowed. Her mom now had to deal with not only grief but learning to do many things that she had never done before. She was a fast learner so learning how to do things she’s never done before wasn’t hard, it just took courage. For example, pump her own gas or any car mechanics but even throughout the obstacles that her mom had been challenged with after her dad passed away she learned that always, and she means always, you keep going.

The amazing thing about my parents is that they truly and honestly only want to see me happy in life. They never once got mad at me for swinging a ball or making a bad grade because they know that I am trying my best. I am so grateful for this and so lucky to have parents like you guys. Okay, now my dad may have taught me the whole marathon thing but nobody showed me how to sprint to the finish line like my brother Tyson. I don’t think anything prepared me for high school more than Tyson’s reality of forgetting to do UT quests becoming my nightmares. He is not here today so he can’t get mad at me for saying that plus it is the truth. Tyson was by far my biggest inspiration throughout high school. Whatever he did I simply attempted to emulate. But when you have a brother who finished 6th in his class and now attends the United States Naval Academy that is not such a bad thing to do. To this day, my brother never ceases to amaze me. His hard work and dedication to everything he does in life is quite admirable and I am so proud to call him my brother. Next we have Meredith. Meredith is a freshmen here at Ridge Point and as a

Hope uses the analogy of the reverse dive and copping with her mother’s illness to

If someone asked me ten years ago why my mother was my hero, I wouldn't have been able to give them a proper response. As I grew older, and as my jolly world made of gum drops and sunshine were fading away, I realized how much my mother had put up with. Dealing with horrid family- crushing problems as a child was never easy for me and I can only imagine what it did to my mother. I watched my mother somehow withstand it every single moment. All I had to ask, was why? Why had she tortured herself by staying with a

My mother grew up on a street consumed with abandoned houses, needles and filth. She was born into a lifestyle with limited luck. From the very beginning, she was the older of three siblings, two sisters and one brother forced into responsibility—just her luck. She was given a mother, which this is okay, but of course her mom had to be strung out on drugs and alcohol—just her luck again. I could go on and on about the misfortunes in my mother’s life but then I wouldn’t be able to drain you all with the despairs in my dad’s life. He on the other hand had nine brothers and three baby sisters him being the eldest as well that’s just his luck, he grew up with a strong southern minded mom, but no dad and that’s just his luck. From the dangers of the neighborhoods they grew up in to the exposure they got from walking on the streets they figured they had the worst deck of cards.

“I know my mom and dad love each other but their marriage is not healthy and has not been for a long time.” “They don’t even sleep in the same room”. (personal communication, 08/03/2013). Selyna states she feels like her mother is depressed, but would never admit to it. Selyna and her sister Stephanie are very close to their mother. Selyna’s brother Sergio is gay which has caused the greatest conflict with his father and has resulted in a poor relationship with conflict and discord. Selyna states “When my brother came out it was the most stress I have ever seen my family endure it was very hard for all of us. I have never stopped loving my brother and was able to look past it, but my father never has and I don’t think he ever will” (personal communication, 08/03/2013). Selyna describes her relationship with her brother Sergio and her sister Stephanie as close and has depicted on the genogram as extremely close or fused.

Andrea Yates was once a loving person to the family and friends. She was a nurse who worked at Houston's M D Anderson Cancer Center for 8 years. She met her husband Rusty, who work for NASA's space-shuttle programmed. They met in college and got married in 1993. Over the next 7 years, she gave birth to five children, and had to give up her job as a nurse to be home for the kids. The family wasn’t very stable, they move around many time and one time they had to live converted bus. Andrea had a father, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and was very ill for which she had to take care of him too. Few years later after marriage, she gave birth to the children, and she suffered postpartum illness which lead to her craziness of drowning her

Gigi notices her mother is starting to get weaker and less able to walk and run like she used to. This worries Gigi but her mom says she is okay so Gigi just thinks its cause she is getting old and doesn’t think much of it. A month loater Gigi’s mother gets diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which is really imparing her mother from helping figt off the bullies. But she is still giving Gigi her words of supportand

I waved to my family, as I proceeded into a motorcade, taking my brothers dreams into my hands. I looked at my father. I could tell he was proud of me. I saw it in his eyes. He wasn’t hiding it. In fact, he was showing it in every way. Little tears coming out of his eyes, smiling ear to ear, and most of all, encouraging me. “I know you’ll do well, my boy!” Kept ringing into my ears. I looked at my mother, as she was clinging onto my father, tissue in her hand, crying tears of joy. I hated to see my mother cry. But, they were tears of joy. I looked and saw my fellow siblings - Joseph Kennedy, Business man. Rose Kennedy, philanthropist. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, owns a camp. Patricia Kennedy Lawford, actress. Last but not least, Robert F. Kennedy,

To this day, I can still remember standing at the end of my driveway watching my mother arrive home from the bus stop. This day was different; she was not coming home empty handed. In fact, she had stopped at a yard sale on the way home and bought a prize for me, a doll named Suzy. This memory, from the age of two, embraces the story of my mother and my entire childhood. In Indianapolis, Indiana in September 1980, I was born to a single mother. Throughout her life, she worked for the phone company in downtown Indianapolis. Even though she raised us through hardships and despair, she always took the time to love my brother and me outwardly. Until second grade, I have no recollection of my father visiting more than three occasions. At last, in fourth grade we began to spend weekends at his house and with his family. Sadly, when I was eleven we learned that my father had cancer. One week before Christmas, after a school music program, I read his obituary in the paper and told my mother he had passed away. From that moment, our family forever changed, specifically my relationship with my mother.

At the age of seventy-eight, Mom developed Fibroids; non-cancerous tumors that grew in and around her womb, causing pelvic pain. Three months after undergoing a hysterectomy, on Mother’s Day morning, our mother suffered a stroke. Terrified, when I found her, at home alone, unable to speak to me, I was nervous and distraught, although Mom’s facial expression was peaceful and calm, as if she was consoling me, trying to tell me not to worry. While Vince and I followed the ambulance to the hospital, I phoned Ellen to notify her of Mom’s dire condition. She rushed home immediately and by nightfall, Evie had her two daughters by her bedside.

In 2013, my mother was very ill and had to travel interstate for life saving treatment. It was a very long year, and it forced the development of my independence and self-direction, given my family’s focus on my Mum’s illness.