Tashina B

She is my best friend. She is beautiful in every way. In the face of so much challenge, she has rose above to become an incredible woman, mother, and friend to all. She was born to teenage parents into a life that could have easily prepped her for doom. She is the oldest of five sisters and I hear that even in that impoverished, dangerous neighborhood, she completely walked the other way-toward the light. She excelled, was placed in gifted programs and began using art and writing as her solace to keep out of trouble. Her home life was an uphill battle and through it all. Her spirituality, which to this day she tightly holds on to, was her only glimmer of hope. Her mother stayed in an abusive marriage, her father addicted to illegal substances for her entire childhood, leading to abuse of all kids. Finally, and thankfully, her parents divorced. After that, she was left with grandparents while her mother regrouped. She did not see her father anymore, vowing to leave him be until his addiction was better managed. During her teen years, she still stayed out of trouble but it seemed that if she wanted anything to do with her family, in that neighborhood, she would have to find the courage to visit.

She refrained from a lot of behavior that other people were participating in and took her creativity and dreams for her life take precedence over her natural desire to rebel as a teen. Due to family circumstances, she could no longer have a place to live after junior year of high school and so she took her CHSPE and left to live on her own. She began college and worked full time with children. She continued to work full time for five years, and go to school at night, finally transferring into an online bachelor's program for management and being promoted to sales counselor in her company after nearly three years of steady growth there.

After six years in a relationship with her then fiancé, she became accidentally pregnant and one again faced a challenge. At 22, she chose to keep her child, though the father left and chose to not be involved with her or the child. She went through her pregnancy without the support of him or his family. She was the most beautiful, excited pregnant woman I had ever seen. She lived in a beautiful home, with beautiful things and was doing excellent professionally, well enough to support her child and herself. Right before the birth, she moved into a brand new beautiful home, decorated the nursery to perfection and hired a doula to be with her during her planned water birth. She again, was the bravest woman I'd seen. All this at 22. If only she knew how scared we all were for her, and then with each new excited thing she would do or say, it would chip away the fear and instill a pure confidence in her every move. She was more competent, more fearless, more grateful for her life during that time, than I'd seen anyone. She was not searching to fix anything that maybe appeared slightly untraditional, she was just living her life, being a single mom, being the brilliant woman she is. She traveled during this time, she did yoga and cycling up until her due date. Still yet, never frowning, never missing a day of work, though her life had been turned upside down, her wedding cancelled, the love of her life, lost to his own plan, which did not include her or a baby.

Time passed and she continued to flourish in school, work, and her personal life. She never lost her shine, never cried over what could have been. She has one of the most sincere joys for god, life and people I've ever seen. She dabbles in painting, photography, writing, she runs every day and she takes care of her son with out any help, all the while, working full time and accepting freelance writing jobs on the side. Now, she is 24. She has a perfect son. She is the most amazing single mother I have ever seen and the most beautiful thing about her is that she doesn't even know how incredible she is. She has always been the over comer, the smart, beautiful, motivated one, and doesn't realize how hard it is to rise to her level with normal circumstances, let alone, adversity. This is my submission of one of my best friends in the world, someone I admire greatly, along with dozens of others, who is a true example of beauty, poise, and a hunger for happiness and passion in a world she finds so incredible and can't understand why someone would find it so ordinary. Nothing about her is ordinary. She deserves more than I could ever give her. Please acknowledge this person who has helped so many, volunteered her time, money, love. She has worked at women's shelters, children's group homes, AIDS events, all in an effort to constantly volunteer her time and give back the blessings she herself, feels have been given to her.

Submitted by Anonymous

Determination