Ana L. Garcia

In my opinion a hero is someone that takes their problems head on and faces them. Rises from the ashes. In the dictionary the word hero is defined as a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose. One who has risked or sacrificed his or her own life. My mother fits both my description as well as Webster’s. She is my hero; she inspires me and encourages me to be the best. In my lifetime I have never seen anyone take advantage of her, nor has she allowed anyone to treat her like she is less then they are. She has always told me to face my adversaries and never back away from my problems.

My mothers name is Ana Leticia Garcia. She was born on November 21 1961 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. She is the third born of seven children. She came the United States when she was twenty-one years old and was reunited with my father. Soon after they married and in 1985 I was born. Knowing very little English, my mother took it upon herself to learn the language and make something of her in this new world that she had come to. She took every English class and accent reduction seminar she could attend. She worked as a nanny for a family that had children going to the same pre school- as I did. As she cared for me, other children and herself all day, every day for years she educated her self and gained the respect of her teachers, and the couple that she baby sat for.

Throughout her life my mother cared for others more than she cared for herself. She sacrificed so many aspects of her life to help others. At the age of fifteen years old my mother risked her safety to make sure that she brought her older brother home from the so-called friends that he had that were seriously involved in gangs and drugs. She would take two buses and walk for about half a mile into the dangerous streets to get my uncle Carlos and bring him home. Many times my mother would tell me about the dangers that she experienced because of her brother. But when I asked her if she had to do it all again…she lifted her head, sat up straight and told me that there was nothing in this world that would stop her from doing it all again to save her brother. And she did. Had my mother not been there to take my uncle from the hands of drug dealers and killing machines, he surely would have been lying dead in a dark alley with a needle stuck in his arm.

As my mother raised me, the best memories that I’ve had, are of us sitting in the park on a sunny day as she told me stories of her past. The happy moments made her laugh and wrinkled her nose, the sad ones she would recite with a tear in her eye. But she would always give me advice that someday I will pass on to my children. “No one is better than you, as long as you know that, that is how you will be treated.” This is advice that I have taken with me everywhere. Often time’s people read too much in to my personality and think that I am conceited, but in the end they realize that I am only trying to get the respect that I deserve. “ If you run away from your problems they will only come back to haunt you.” She taught me to take care of my predicaments right away so that I could sleep at night and not have to worry about things. Never in my life have I seen my mother leave something unsaid. She believes in being honest with people and doesn’t want to have regrets about little things.

The person that I have become is honest, truthful, faithful and I stand up for what I believe in. Thanks to my mom I am a better person. I can only hope that I will be half the person that she is. She is the strength, the hope and the love in my life. She always manages to solve problems and make peace within our family. The beautiful element that I would never be able to live with out, is my mother.