“You’re Erica's daughter? Oh my god, she is so sweet and happy all the time,”

This is the reaction I get  from my moms co-workers when they find out that Erika is my mother. They immediately start telling me how happy and nice my mother is, but of course I already know how caring, loving, strong and supportive my mom is. She has the most beautiful smile that can bright up your whole day. She always stays positive even when she is going through rough moments.

            In my eyes my mother is the strongest women, it is just amazing how she has been able to overcome the hardest challenges in life. We lived in a small house near Acapulco In Mexico, it was my two sisters who are older than me and my mother and father. Our life in Mexico wasn’t really good, the economy was horrible. My father thought it was best if he moved to the United States and worked to give us a better life down here in Mexico, so he did leave when I was  5 years old. Even though my dad left to support us with groceries or whatever we needed my mother had to work because it didn't really make a difference. My mom had to take care of us alone for two years there were days when my dad didn't even send money for food, so she had to work twice as hard. There were days that she wouldn't even eat to give us something  to eat, these are some characteristics  that makes my mother, the best mother. The situations were getting more complicated, my mom had to make the hardest decision in her life. She had decided to go to the United States and help my dad, yett that is not the worse. She had to leave us. Her daughters, I respect my mother so much because without a doubt staying away from ur daughters must be the hardest and the most heartbreaking moment a mother can experience. So she left, for 2 years she would call every weekend and there wasn't a time that she would not tell us how much she missed us or love us. Sometimes she would break down  in tears when we would talk to her on the phone and we would ask her when was she going to coming back and she would always take a deep breath and say “ pronto mija” with a whimpering  voice. I cannot understand how my mom was able to stay strong for those two years that she was away from us, she is honestly the bravest women I know.

        Time passed, My mother and father finally came back for us, and all of us moved to California. We were all happy for about a year and a half. Until radical situation change our life completely. My father had cheated on my mother with her “bestfriend” after that devastating  reality in my mothers life, she was able to overcome this awful situation that my dad had caused her. With her head up high she was able to raise me and my sisters alone as she always says “Todo pasa por algo” she always had a positive attitude towards bad times. It is just amazing how my mom is able to be a mom and dad at the same time.

       After all that had occurred to my my mom, it seemed like life thought that my mom hadn't  had enough tragedies and sad moments. Another obstacle came in my moms life. During the visit to her  doctor, they had found an unusual ball in her breast. It  alarmed everyone because they thought it was cancer. The doctors told my mom she had to get a surgery immediately. When I came back to school, I perceive that  was wrong my moms eyes were swollen I could tell she had been crying she was sitting in the couch and my older sister was next to her, she was holding her hand. I asked  what was wrong and my sister told me what had happen. My mom was going to get the surgery in a week, i remember she would always say “espero que todo vaya salir bien y que no sea cancer mija.” I could notice how worried and scared  she was, then again who wouldn't be. Even though she was going through all this she would always manage to put a smile on her face. After all the waiting the day of the surgery arrived, I could not go with my mom because i had school, but my sister went with her. After the surgery we had to wait for the results, those days my mom showed so much strength, she stayed positive all the time. After all the waiting we finally found out what the results were. Luckily , the ball that they found in her breast it wasn't cancer but it was just a tumour that they had removed already so there was no longer any danger. That was one of the toughest challenges that my mom had to face and she never lost faith, I admire my mom so much because of the strength she has.

        From all the multiple challenges that life has put her through, my mom was able to overcome them and it has made her a stronger person . My mom has taught me so much in life, she has encouraged me to stay strong and keep a positive attitude when I'm facing hard moments and that is exactly what I am going to do. I am beyond thankful that god put her in my life as my mother because I could not think of having any other mother as amazing, strong and loving as she is and even though all the bad situations that she has been through she manages to stay happy all the time. She is my role model.

1. Soon mija

2. Everything happens for a reason

3. I hope everything goes okay and its not cancer mija