Karla Diane Hurrell

My hero is not a movie star or a famous singer. She's never created a marvelous invention that could change the world and she's never won a Grammy, but she's far more of a hero to me than anyone else could be. My hero is my Mom!

I see my mom as my life preserver who keeps me afloat in times of need, desperation, and in times where I feel as if my life has come to a brutal stop. Without her, I would be nothing. I would be lost and forgotten with no hope, no love, no family to call my own.

My mother has been a mother to at least 153 other children. She and my father have been foster parents for 12 years and have adopted five children. She has given so many children the chance to experience life without the trouble, sadness, or bitterness they may have experienced earlier in life.

She is one of the most patient, gentle, good-hearted people I know (besides my Granny who I love very dearly). It takes a very gifted person to take in children of any age or color, no matter what sort of problems they may have, without hesitation.

I came to live with Karla when I was nine years old. My two siblings and I were taken from our home and never returned to our biological mother again. It was tough being torn away from one life that at one time seemed to be so simple, and tossed into a whole new one. I legally became a part of the Hurrell family in 1996, but in my heart I feel like I have been a part of the family from the very beginning. My mom has given me so many things that I never would have had the chance to experience with my biological mother.

It was hard to have a new mom, but she made it seem simple. It was almost like I could feel her love and her willingness to let us into her home. I knew she loved us from the start. She quickly became my protector, my guardian, and my shoulder to cry on. She's all I could ever want in a mother, and she's never failed to be there for me when I needed her. She is truly an amazing person. She's never rescued anyone from a burning building or saved anyone from drowning in a river, but she's still a hero to me and to many others with whom she has shared her love.

To anyone who is adopted and can't quite get the feeling she belongs, or who feels like she's being looked at differently, here's how I look at it (maybe it will help): I see it as if I was simply put in the wrong mother's womb, and this was just God's way of leading me to the parents who I was meant to belong to. I truly feel like I was meant to be with this family. Even though I did not come directly from them, I am still a part of them because they raised me. They have made me who I am today.

The word mom has a lot of meanings. Just remember that a name is just a name. It does not make you who you are. And when someone asks you who is your REAL mother you do not have to tell them who gave birth to you...because your mother is the one who nurtures and protects you. She is your REAL mother.