My inspiration.

There are a lot of people in the world and in my life that inspire me to be a good person. The person that inspires me the most is my mother. She is so strong, and refuses to let her health problems stop her from living her life the best way she can.

My mother has osteoarthritis. Her joints have all betrayed her, and it causes her to be in severe pain. She has been on pain medication for 10 years, and it is the only thing that she has to sustain a somewhat normal life. Even so, she has managed to not abuse her pain medication. That would be so easy for her to do, to over use her medication to give her some emotional relief as well as her pain relief, but she doesn’t. Currently she deals with a lot of pain in her shoulders, back, and hip. She has had multiple surgeries and procedures, including 3 joint replacements. She will never be pain free.

2 years ago a heart shaped mole on her face turned black and blotchy. She had a painful biopsy performed, and was diagnosed with melanoma. She has always had such beautiful skin, and she was devastated. She is not vain by any means, but her face was the one place on her body that wasn’t covered in scars from surgery. She had to have the mole removed, and an additional 2 inches around the top, bottom, and sides of where the melanoma was. After her surgery, she cried a lot. For weeks people stared at her face and pointed at her large incision.

She has also dealt with a lot of emotional abuse from many people in her life from the time she was a little girl. For so many years she struggled with self confidence, and self worth. I won’t go into details about this very personal aspect of her life, but I can tell you all that it has left her emotionally scarred.

Though she has been through so much, my mother is not bitter or angry with God. For the most part, she is very emotionally healthy. Most people in her situation would be a wreck at this point in their life. Even so, she loves God, and knows that her pain and suffering hasn’t been for nothing. To me, she is an example for anyone who wonders why God allows certain things to happen to us. She shows me that through it all, there is still room left in us for love and faith.