Character Sketch

“I Don’t Know How to Give Up”

“I don’t know how to give up. It’s my kids that keep me standing cause I can’t stand by myself” she said dazing off into space, with her glass of wine in her right hand and the other placed gently on her lap. Trying to avoid making eye contact I asked,

“How do you manage to play the mom roll with three jobs? And is it hard being a single parent?”

She paused as her dark chocolate eyes started to water and replied, “It is hard being a single mom because raising a family isn’t meant to be done by your self. And I manage to play the mom roll by reminding myself that I have the jobs to support my kids. ”

I felt like the only thing that really matters to her was my brothers and sisters and me. There are reasons behind everything she does, the main reason being for her kids. Knowing that she’s always been there for us and always will be there for us, makes me understand more how I should be there for my family too.

Just by watching her face expressions made me realize how good of a mom she is. It made me want to try harder and not give up. It reminded me of the time where we were struggling the most but she still managed to get us through that stage. It really is amazing how she does the stuff she does. I never met someone as strong as her, and I am very thankful she’s my mom.

She sat their with her long brown hair waving down her shoulder, the light glared off her face making her freckles pop out more. Staring at her made me realize how life is hard and how you need to work for what you want in order to be successful. She’s always encouraging me not to make the same mistakes she made.

Thinking back on the time where I was having problems with my dad, my mom was the only person that I was able to talk to that would understand the situation since she had the same problems with him. She was always the person to ameliorate the situation, the person that I could always rely on to help me with my problems.

I would constantly ask myself this question that I often thought of.

“So mom, who’s your inspiration?”

“In everybody close to me there is a part of them that inspires me to do the right thing, to be a good person. But I can’t really say that there is one person that is my inspiration.” I notice it took her longer to answer this question, then the other ones I asked her, like if this was something she didn’t really think about.

Hearing that made me wonder more. It made me think about how she became the person she is. With everything she been through I would think that she would have already given up. But she proved me wrong. She showed me that you don’t need money to be happy, that all you need is a family or friends to love you and be there for you. That also taught me that I need be their for family and friends when they need somebody too.

I could honestly say that with out my mom I don’t know what I would have done. She is one of the main reasons why I’m not giving up on life. I am who I am because of her. She taught me wrong from right. Even though I grew up in a bad neighbor hood she still was able to keep me off the streets.