Amada Garcia

If you ask a little kid who their hero is, they might say Superman. If you ask an older person, they might say Martin Luther King Jr. But if you ask me, I'm going to say my mom. How do I even begin to describe my hero? My mom is always gentle, kind, brave, strong, loving, and a little stubborn but she never puts herself before others.

She has gone through some difficulties in life but she always seems to overcome them by keeping her head held high and keeps moving forward. My mom's dad died when she was at a really young age. She doesn't like talking about it because she says "That's the past, let's focus on the future." I never met my grandpa, and I don't even know what he looks like. But every time I bring grandpa up, I can see the pain in my mom's eyes, and she can still manage to put a smile on her face. She's really strong and someday, I hope I turn out just like her.

There was one day my mom decided to help out at a charity or the Red Cross. She would come home later and sometimes I would fall asleep waiting for her. I knew she was helping people, but as each day went by, it felt like I didn't even know her anymore. On a cold windy day she came home early. "You're home early," I said. " Yea I um, I wanted to talk to you." She hugged me and said " I know I've been working really late." " I know," I interrupted "It's o.k" "No, It's not" She said softly "from now on, I vow to spend more time with you." We both laughed and she gave me a hug, " I love you" " Me too" I said. Even though she had all these things going on she still found time to spend with me and she doesn't let anything get in the way.

January 12th 2010. That day, I will never forget. I had just come home from school. " Hey mom" , " Hey sweety." There was a crack in her voice and she wasn't her cheerful usual self. She usually comes up to me, gives me a hug, and asks me how was school and all that. But today she seemed really low almost sad even. " What's wrong mom?' She turned her head toward me as if startled that I asked her that. " Huh? Oh, nothing I'm just you know... thinking." I thought she might have had a bad day at work so I just let her be. My dad came home from work at 5:17 and went to the kitchen. I heard my mom and dad whispering, I wanted to hear what they were saying, but that would be eavesdropping so I didn't. " It's o.k!" said my mom " No it's not!" that was my dad. What is going on I asked myself. I went in the kitchen only to find my mom's eyes red and tears forming. She's holding back tears I realized. " Is something wrong?" I asked, " No, just go upstairs with your brother' said my mom in a soft voice. " No, just tell me what's going on." "Your mom lost her job, o.k?!" my dad said. I don't know how long we all stood there but I'll tell you something, silence is really loud. I finally broke the silence " What are we going to do?! We have to pay the rent soon! And, and we have tons of bills! And the only reason why we're doing o.k is because my mom's job was holding us up! And- " CALM DOWN!" My mom said. She came up to me, "It's o,k, we're going to be o.k" She gave me a long hug and whispered " You have to be brave." A little tear rolled down her cheek and she smiled saying, " Now, there are plenty of jobs out there, I'm sure I'll find one." And soon enough, she did.

My mom taught me to be strong, to be loving, and to be brave. I couldn't ask for more. She's been by my side since the day I was born and has held my hand through the difficulties in life. I'm never letting her go. If you ask a little kid who their hero is they probably might say Superman. If you ask an older person, they might say Martin Luther King Jr. And if you ask me, I'm going to say, she's not only my hero but she's my mom. And I love her.