Five Kids, Four Dogs, Three Degrees, Two Countries, One Supermom

Some moms can handle a lot, but my mom is a superhero.

I was four years old when I realized how strong of a mother I had.

My grandfather had just passed away and my mom and dad were parents to two young girls, and my mom was the youngest of five girls who had just lost their father. I remember my mother crying, but telling me that we needed to be strong. It took me a long time to realize how hard that was for her, to help me and my sister understand while she hid her grief and coped when we weren't watching.

The next time I saw my mom's super strength was when I was about 7. My little brother had just been diagnosed with autism. We were an Army family and were living in Japan at the time. Everyday my mom would either drive or take the bus to my brother's therapies. The doctor had told my parents that my brother would never be a normal kid, would never have the same opportunities as everyone else. My mom knew he was wrong and she was going to prove it. My parents did everything to give my brother very opportunity he could have. Soon he went from not speaking at all to giving his own names for things, to being an eloquent and extremely intelligent young man. My brother is now 15, an honor student, a football player, and one of the most amazing human beings I know.

Time passed, my mom and dad had two more kids after my brother, and we moved a few more times. Then, when I was a senior in high school, my Nana got sick. Her dementia was progressing, and we had to move her from our house into a retirement home. My mom spent hours with her everyday, talking to the staff and just sitting with my Nana. Then she fell. The doctors said she wouldn't last through the night, we all sat in the hospital with her. She lasted through the night, she's lasted a few years. My dad got a job in another state and while my mom stayed behind to finish their school year, we moved my Nana out to be there with my dad. Its been about a year since then and my mom still sits with her everyday and makes sure she gets the best care anyone can have.

I've already promised my mom to try to be half the person she is, because being all that she is would be impossible. My mother has raised five kids, and given us all the opportunities a mother could offer her children. She has been a loving wife and and phenomenal daughter. I know everyone says they have the best mother,but that's understandable because they probably haven't met mine.

Happy Mother's Day to the most inspirational person I know, and the person who I hope to grow up to be someday.