Brenda Thooft

Have you ever had a family member that saves hundreds of lives a year? I do, and she is my mom, Brenda Thooft. She was born in Fort Carson, Colorado, because her dad was enlisted in the army. Brenda was the oldest child of eight children born to her mother and father. She has four brothers and three sisters.

As a young child, she moved to a farm with her family near Tyler, Minnesota. Her dad farmed there so they had many pets including lambs, cow, pigs, and chickens. They always had cats and dogs as well. Even as a young girl, my mom nursed sick animals back to health.

My mom graduated from Balaton High School and later went to college in Iowa. She finished her nursing degree at St. Catherine's College in St. Paul. Her first job was as a waitress at age fifteen. At sixteen, she was a nursing assistant for a nursing home. Her first job out of nursing school was working as an assistant director of nursing at a nursing home. Presently, my mom works at the VA Medical Center in the cardiology department. She has worked there for twenty-four years straight!

She is proud of getting her bachelor's degree in college. There are other accomplishments she has achieved, however, she says her biggest achievement is "her kids and just being a mom". Brenda admires veterans because she works at the Veteran's Administration Medical Center (VAMC). She says that veterans are some of the most devoted and compassionate people in the world. She admires hard working people whether at school, home, or work.

One of her favorite quotes is "Do not follow where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I selected my mom because she saves hundreds of lives a year. In addition, she has had some extraordinary accomplishments throughout her life.