She is my role model because I admire everything she does and has done. Both of her parents have passed, she’s an only child and she is still a strong mother. She has eight kids and has taken care of six of them by herself (I’m number 5!). She has been an independent woman most of her life when her parents were not there for her.

In July of 2010, she was diagnosed with colon cancer and was only expected to live for three months. She has been through two different major surgeries and has been on and off chemotherapy for the last two years. It has been hard seeing my mama at her weakest. She has always been there for me when I needed her, even at my lowest points in life. I told her I was going to drop out of school because I had no one to make proud. And she convinced me that she would always be proud of me. She said I make her smile. She influenced me to stay in school because I will be only the second person in my family to graduate from high school and the first one to go to college.

She makes sure that everyone has a roof over his or her head and they are safe and secure. Like the time right before school started and my cousin’s mother had kicked him out, my mama took him in. I may not always get what I want when I want it, but I always get what I need when I need it even if she doesn’t have it. Before school started she was struggling to get our school supplies. But she managed to save and scrape every dollar she could and got me what I needed.

I know I make a lot of mistakes, but I learn from them and my mama is always understanding. She tells me I remind her so much of herself when she was growing up. Marilyn is not just my mother, she is my best friend. We can talk about anything, like when I’m feeling down or excited.

She is the only parent who is there for me; she’s taught me so much and helped me become the intelligent young lady I am today. When I was growing up, I saw how hard it was for my mama to take care of all of us in a two-bedroom house. She struggled a lot. I told her when I become a doctor in a few years, I’ll get her anything she wants because she deserves it. She has put up with a lot of obstacles I don’t think I would be able to put up with. She had to stop working two years ago, so we have definitely been struggling, but we all help each other out, especially when my mama gets tired and can’t fight anymore. I love you, Marilyn Brown.