For Women’s History Month, I think it’s fitting for me to take the time to thank one of the most influential women in my life: my mother. Though I have always looked up to and admired my mom in the way many children look up to their parents, it is only in recent years that I have begun to deeply appreciate what she does and what she has gone through.
Whenever I asked her what she wanted to be growing up, her response was always, “I wanted to be a mom.” That road was certainly not an easy one for her for a long time, yet she has made it so far despite the roadblocks that life put in her way.
She married and started a family at a younger age than most, choosing me and my father instead of going off to college. She had to grow up quickly to help put a roof over my head and make sure I was as happy and safe as possible while she herself was stressed, tired, and undoubtedly scared about starting her new adult life with a husband and an infant earlier than all of her friends.
Life has thrown her even more in the past 21 years, and being old enough now to hear about all of her experiences, I truly admire the way that she carried herself with strength, dignity, and courage through both the good times and the bad. Her dedication to her faith in God has gotten her through every period in her life, and that’s one thing she strives to exemplify in her day to day life.
Mom, I want to thank you so much for all that you’ve done and continue to do for my sisters and me. You are one of the strongest and bravest women that I know, and I am extremely grateful that I get to say that I’m your daughter.
Will Cunningham 
Hannah Bonanducci 
Shane Witzer