My mom Maria. She may not see her own value but as a single mom who raised two kids she increased in value. She instilled in me feelings of greater self worth more than she can ever know because of her example and despite the struggles she faced she always had her reliance and trust in God. Many a time she lay awake at night crying, wishing she could have given me and my brother more. Sometimes worrying where our next meal was coming from. The best she gave me was a personal relationship with God(Jehovah). She has strength that she is shy about being praised for but I get this opportunity to share with you .

She was raised differently not the way she had expected either but the only way my grandmother knew how. Yet my mom could see how she wanted her life to become. Without harsh words or acts of unkindness. Her life didn't turn out how she planned, a single mom with two kids. She knew now though she had a choice, "do I continue in the way as the woman before me or can I give my children more despite the choices I made?" She always reasoned that life was a chain link reaction where we continue to do what we are taught because that is what we know. Now she knew she had to break that link and create a new link of love and happiness. She gave me and my brother an understanding of love even when it came to discipline, kneeling to explain why she needed to and although it was painful at the time, I now know how much loved me. An understanding of respect, to treat others the way you wanted to be treated. She was both mother and father , a responsibility that one person should not have to take on their own. Despite heartache and sacrafice,she chose me and my brother. 

I wish to give her what she she has given me. I don't know if this explanation is enough to explain her self sacrificing love for me, but I hope you see through my eyes how she is truly a phenomenal woman.