I love the comments you shared! In fact, I have one of my own. My grandparents left China during a time of great civil unrest in the 1920′s amidst the civil war between the Nationalists and Communists. They were poor and not very well educated. At the time when they left, they wanted to emigrate to America, but due to the Chinese Exclusion Act they were not allowed in the country. They ended up in Jamaica and started a family in a completely different place where they didn’t speak the language, were even poorer than before (they had to use stretched out oil drums as roofing, for example), and faced discrimination. Despite that, they raised the next generation to become successful businesspeople and entrapraneurs. My father even paid his way through medical school to own his own practice today. I know I would not be the person I am without their persistence throughout those hard times!

Our oldest son was killed 5 years ago in a terrible accident while out of state at college. Two years later son #2 tells me he is going to go to the very same school. As much as I protested, I knew this was something he had to do, knowing he was going to come out of the very same driveway that claimed his brothers life. Although my marriage was anything but perfect, my husband really struggled with the death of our son. He turned heavily to gambling and womenizing….claiming those things made him forget about “Sam”. I finally got the courage to end my “downward tailspin” and filed for divorce. Six weeks later hubby is diagnosed with stage IV non hodgkins lymphoma. I knew I could contine with the divorce, or take him back. The words from St. Francis kept coming back to me…when I was hungry, you gave me food, when I was homeless you sheltered me. I thought if I don’t help this guy, son #2 and our daughter will have to help him die. That’s quite an undertaking for a 18 and 15 year old who had already seen too much death. All to often I heard the words “how do you do it?” I too found the strength the women in my blood line. These amazing ladies blazed the open prairies in blizzards way back when. I knew their lives couldn’t be easy, and I found myself asking for them all to help me. Today, I have sold our home due to being upside down in my mortgage, and have bought a smaller home. Is life hard, yes…I continue to work 5 jobs, 1 full time and 4 parttime so I’m just constantly working but I’m making it..and that makes me ( and my other two kids) very proud.