Joyce Lykes

My hero is my mother. Her full name is Joyce Dorthy Lykes. She was originally born in Rahway, New Jersey on October 7th. She grew up in Colonia, New Jersey. When she got married, she moved to Piscataway. Then when she decided to start a family, my mom and dad moved into the country. Now she is living in Readington, New Jersey.

My mom used to be a health and physical education teacher in North Brunswick, then after my sister was born, she made the decision to stay home and raise a family. She got her degree from Kean College, and her masters degree from Trenton State college, now known as The College of New Jersey. While in college she played tennis and volleyball at varsity level. She enjoys playing basketball, lacrosse, syncronized swimming, judo, canoeing, rock climbing, softball, backpacking/camping, skiing, ice-skating, and folkdancing.

She has been my hero ever since I was a little girl. I would always look up to her and try to follow her in whatever she did. I now play volleyball for the highschool team, on the varsity level, and I have the same interests as her. She has taken care of me since I was born, so I guess she's been my hero for a very long time.

My mom is my hero because no matter what, she is there for me. Even though I think she may be over-protective sometimes, she is doing it out of love and she is worried about me.

My mom does a lot of volunteer work, and she always helps anyone out, even if she doesn't have time or she doesn't like the person, she will help them. She is a Girl Scout leader, she works on crafts for Hollytrail, she helps out at the middle school, she is the leader of our youth group, she teaches at our church, and she even volunteered to be the president of this project that a museum is doing. It's a lot of work, and to add on to that, she drives all three of her children around everywhere.

Last year, there was an older lady, who was all alone, that always used to walk up and down our road. Well, my dog saw her one day, and the lady got scared so she started to back up. Since she was so old though, she lost her balance very easily, fell, and cracked her skull on the concrete. My mom saw what happened, and ran out to help her. She used her own shirt to keep the womans' head from bleeding so much, then when the bleeding wasn't as severe, she drove the lady to the Emergency Room, and stayed there 7 hours with the woman to make sure she was alright. Then she drove her home.

This wasn't the first time she helped a neighbor or friend out. Just recently, my mom was house sitting for our neighbors, and their 2 dogs got in a fight, and the big dog bit the little one. There was a huge gash in the side of the animal, and my mom called my dad. She held the dog in her lap in the car with a blanket full of blood, and they drove to 2 animal hospitals very far away. They went to two hospitals, becasue the first place didn't have anyone who could help the dog. She took care of the animal as if it were her own. She has also driven other people who live on my street, to the emergency department, or has taken care of neighbors when something tragic happened.

My mom isn't just a hero to me, as you might be able to see. She helps so many people, and does good in the neighborhood, that I believe a lot of people look up to her. From being a mother, a wife, a leader, and everything else she does, that makes her my hero. She is always thinking of others before herself, and she has done so much for me already. She loves me, I love her, and I look up to her, and that makes her my hero.