Maria G

My hero is my maternal grandmother, Maria Gutierrez. Born to a mother and father both in their mid fifties, she was born healthy which wasn't and -still isn't- expected. Maybe that small fortune was a sign for what she would accomplish in her life.
When she graduated in 1945, there were no colleges back then in our hometown of Laredo and her parents couldn't afford to send her anyway. But she didn't let this stop her from pursuing her dream of being a nurse. She contacted a local doctor who simply told her “I will teach you everything you need to know.” For more than thirty years, she worked with numerous doctors treating patients, even helping a clueless LVN! During a brief break from nursing, she worked in a realtor’s office as a bookkeeper in San Antonio. Upon returning to Laredo, she received a letter from her former boss asking her to come back, because the girl who’d taken her place just wasn’t getting the job done. They also added that she could come back anytime she wanted.
Along with her achievements in the workforce, she’s excelled as a mother and grandmother. She has taught us all to be productive citizens in the smallest ways. That’s not all, though. She is the person that almost everyone in my family has turned to for guidance and wisdom. Often, my grandmother has been our shoulder to lean on, the person I can’t imagine my life without.
There’s so much more to her than I can possibly say here…she deserves much more than a few meager paragraphs; she deserves all the recognition we can give her. I hope she knows what an extraordinary woman she really is, for I sure do.

Submitted by Anonymous

Hard Work