The light shines bright for you Linda

“The mother of the year”

English is not my first language so prepare to dance through a few mispronunciations and misspellings

I have known Linda since we were 12 years old, she took me under her wing the moment I stepped foot in her classroom the first day in my new school, I was so nervous.

Her smile and laughter was contagious; it was hard to resist laughing back with her.

We often got in trouble for talking and laughing too much during class.

We were peas in the pod from the get go.

Linda always made light out of any situation and we laughed a lot during our school years, even when things weren’t so great.

She was a free spirit, very different from the other girls, she didn’t belong in the click with the popular girls, or the nerds, yet she was popular in her own way, People loved her.

Today you’d categorize her as a creative soul, so we hit it off beautifully.

Things weren’t easy for her growing up, yet she had that happy soul that kept shining bright no matter what went wrong.

She was the friend, sister and daughter that was always there emotionally.

There are so many things I can write about her, what stands out to me is remembering how she inspired me at an early age, her positive spirit, her will power to look at things in a beautiful way.

When I felt like shit she would always make light out of things.

I remember hating the way I looked, she told me to go home, stand in front of the mirror, look at myself and tell myself I was beautiful.

Of course at the time I thought to myself, easy for her to say!!!

She’s got curves and look beautiful, me on the other hand I’m skin and bones! I want to look like her!!!

She had knowledge about things most of us don’t have a concept of until later in life.

I truly believe she has a gift to love and heal.

Linda became a mother in her late teens with her first child Maria and later had another three children.

She was hands down a mother hen.

When Maria became a teenager she got stuck on drugs and it became a battle for her and Linda. It’s evil when drugs take over your body there is no control and the people in your life suffer watching you destroy yourself trying to fight. Maria became pregnant and had a son that Linda took in as her own and then later another boy and girl. With other words Linda was now a grandmother and mother fulltime in her 40’s.

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She struggled watching her beautiful daughter being addicted to drugs and what it did to her physically and emotionally.

I personally can’t even imagine what I would do if one of my children got addicted to the evil of drugs, how do you help them fight that battle? What do you possibly do to make things turn around?

My heart goes out to her and her entire family for being so strong and being there for those beautiful children while watching their daughter, sister, mother struggle.

Maria died not so long ago from an overdose and it ripped Linda’s heart out.

I don’t have words to express my sadness for her and her family. There is nothing you can say to make things better when someone goes through the sorrow of losing their child.

I’m writing this for mother’s day to celebrate her and to let her know, she is a beautiful soul.

A true champion for staying sane and taking care of her daughters three beautiful children.

Linda has been parenting for the last 24 years and she will continue for many more with that big heart of hers.

She has inspired me to be a better mother over the years and I feel she deserves to have the title “The Mother of the Year”

Her dedication and struggles to stay afloat are so admirable.

I hope she knows she is very loved by her family and friends.

The light shines bright for you Linda