Truly Inspiring

"There are some who continue to inspire and light the world in their darkest hour. That is the definition of inspiring."

~Mama Hen

I always post daily, but yesterday received a phone call from a friend I had not spoken to in a while. She is the most inspiring woman and mother I know! We spoke for over four hours on the phone (usually when I am blogging) and I went to bed so inspired! This is a mom of a student I had in my fourth grade class years ago. She wanted so much for her two sons and did everything she had to to assure that they would have an excellent education. We immediately got along because I raised the bar for all of my students. I believed in them and tried so hard to inspire my students to work towards a college education. I taught in the inner city and refused to allow my students (many had difficult lives) to be at a disadvantage in any way. My main focus was to inspire and raise their self esteem. My student's mother also had that same attitude and wanted to inspire her children to go to college and have lives she did not have in her childhood. We kept in touch after I left that school to become a mom and her kids were accepted into one of the greatest private schools in New England. A year after her kids started at the private school, she was told she had cancer. She went through so very much, but refused to let it take away from her involvement in her son's lives and education. After three months in the hospital with aggressive chemo she was able to go home. The entire time she had been in the hospital she kept in touch daily with each teacher so she could make sure her kids were on the right track. The cancer went into remission and in our phone call last night she informed me that she is receiving chemo treatments again. However, the entire phone call was about how she said I inspired my students and about how well her son's were doing in school. Her oldest is in a prestigious university and her younger son is in high school at the same private school. She could have easily talked about the pain she was in or how tired she was or how terrible the chemo is. But she was bright and cheery and so proud of her sons, rightfully so! This is a woman who is the complete essence of inspiration!