Tashina B

She is my best friend. She is beautiful in every way. In the face of so much challenge, she has rose above to become an incredible woman, mother, and friend to all. She was born to teenage parents into a life that could have easily prepped her for doom. She is the oldest of five sisters and I hear that even in that impoverished, dangerous neighborhood, she completely walked the other way-toward the light. She excelled, was placed in gifted programs and began using art and writing as her solace to keep out of trouble. Her home life was an uphill battle and through it all. Her spirituality, which to this day she tightly holds on to, was her only glimmer of hope. Her mother stayed in an abusive marriage, her father addicted to illegal substances for her entire childhood, leading to abuse of all kids. Finally, and thankfully, her parents divorced. After that, she was left with grandparents while her mother regrouped. She did not see her father anymore, vowing to leave him be until his addiction was better managed. During her teen years, she still stayed out of trouble but it seemed that if she wanted anything to do with her family, in that neighborhood, she would have to find the courage to visit.

She refrained from a lot of behavior that other people were participating in and took her creativity and dreams for her life take precedence over her natural desire to rebel as a teen. Due to family circumstances, she could no longer have a place to live after junior year of high school and so she took her CHSPE and left to live on her own. She began college and worked full time with children. She continued to work full time for five years, and go to school at night, finally transferring into an online bachelor's program for management and being promoted to sales counselor in her company after nearly three years of steady growth there.

After six years in a relationship with her then fiancé, she became accidentally pregnant and one again faced a challenge. At 22, she chose to keep her child, though the father left and chose to not be involved with her or the child. She went through her pregnancy without the support of him or his family. She was the most beautiful, excited pregnant woman I had ever seen. She lived in a beautiful home, with beautiful things and was doing excellent professionally, well enough to support her child and herself. Right before the birth, she moved into a brand new beautiful home, decorated the nursery to perfection and hired a doula to be with her during her planned water birth. She again, was the bravest woman I'd seen. All this at 22. If only she knew how scared we all were for her, and then with each new excited thing she would do or say, it would chip away the fear and instill a pure confidence in her every move. She was more competent, more fearless, more grateful for her life during that time, than I'd seen anyone. She was not searching to fix anything that maybe appeared slightly untraditional, she was just living her life, being a single mom, being the brilliant woman she is. She traveled during this time, she did yoga and cycling up until her due date. Still yet, never frowning, never missing a day of work, though her life had been turned upside down, her wedding cancelled, the love of her life, lost to his own plan, which did not include her or a baby.

Time passed and she continued to flourish in school, work, and her personal life. She never lost her shine, never cried over what could have been. She has one of the most sincere joys for god, life and people I've ever seen. She dabbles in painting, photography, writing, she runs every day and she takes care of her son with out any help, all the while, working full time and accepting freelance writing jobs on the side. Now, she is 24. She has a perfect son. She is the most amazing single mother I have ever seen and the most beautiful thing about her is that she doesn't even know how incredible she is. She has always been the over comer, the smart, beautiful, motivated one, and doesn't realize how hard it is to rise to her level with normal circumstances, let alone, adversity. This is my submission of one of my best friends in the world, someone I admire greatly, along with dozens of others, who is a true example of beauty, poise, and a hunger for happiness and passion in a world she finds so incredible and can't understand why someone would find it so ordinary. Nothing about her is ordinary. She deserves more than I could ever give her. Please acknowledge this person who has helped so many, volunteered her time, money, love. She has worked at women's shelters, children's group homes, AIDS events, all in an effort to constantly volunteer her time and give back the blessings she herself, feels have been given to her.

Submitted by Anonymous


Determination
Pass It On®
Pass It On®

  email

Your Comments
Tejas S. from India MAY 12, 2009
Truly Inspirational story. It will definitely inspires others

Janice from MA MARCH 23, 2009
You are amazing...bless you..


Here are some other inspiring stories you might like.
KINDNESS
WENDY T Wendy was my wife of 4 years. We dated in high school, over 30 years ago. Eight years ago, we reconnected, and fell in love all over again. I quickly became attuned to why she was so special: Her kindness. I had never met anyone before, who showed as much kindness to everybody, as Wendy had. It wasn't one...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
WISDOM
JAHSEH O There are many heros I look up to, but Jahseh Onfroy helped me through the darkest times in my life. His music did not only help me but it helped countless people. When he spoke to us, it was always about growing and becoming better than what we are. I have learned many valuable lessons from him, and I constantly...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
BEING THERE
BK SAINI SAINI My husband helped me since he knew me since 1975. He is there for me every single day. He is so kind all the time. He took care of me during any need except not when he is at the job. He comes at home if any emergency arrives. For God’s grace he was never called till today. I still remember when our second baby...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
CARING
BETTY DRUCK I want to tell you about my grandmother,she is in her late 50's,she has spent everyday of her life caring for everyone she meets.She has had multiple surgeries and other problems of her own and yet she has given everything for her family,she has spent every christmas with my dad,even when she was in other...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
STRENGTH
ANDRE D On May 2, 2014 Andre' MY HUSBAND at the age of 42 suffered a massive heart attack, he was without oxygen to his brain for several minutes. It caused an Anoxic Brain Injury and other problems such as cortical blindness, seizures and he is bedridden for the rest of his life and resides in a nursing home. The...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
BRAVERY
HARRIET TUBMAN Harriet Tubman freed 300 slaves she was so brave that is why she is my hero
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
LOVE
AMARA OKEKE My hero is my late mother Since 2000, she fells sick. She was diabetic, all my life I have taken care of her , I abandoned my school, my Visa and career to taken care of her , after 19 years of my sufferings she died last two Saturdays..I was actually 6 years when I started cooking, doing house chores for my...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
PEACE
DANA W Grieving (Fly High Dana Wilson Jr.) On March 7, 2022 my only little brother passed away at home in his bed. This has been one of the hardest things to deal with. I dont think a day goes by that i dont find myself breaking down crying. I think my eyes are puffy did alot of crying yesterday..omg this is really...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
FAMILY
PAT C Next to his faith in God, the most important thing in my Dad’s life was his family; my Mom who was the love of his life, his kids, grandkids, great grandkids, brothers, and sisters. One of the ways he made life better for all of us and left his fingerprint on our lives was through the use of what I like to call...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
CARING
TISH R My former wife is an amazing individual. She works as a behavior analyst, and has been helping injured others achieve a much greater quality of life. In one of my proudest specific memories, she facilitated a transition for a man who was in an ALF, brain-injured, from wearing diapers in a wheelchair to...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
HELPING OTHERS
SAWYER A. After learning about children and families in the poverty-stricken villages of Zambia; a country in south-central Africa, Sawyer Anderson wanted to help bring clean, safe water to the villagers. At age 9, Sawyer wrote and illustrated the book, Water Works, which is published in America, Vietnam (in Vietnamese)...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
LORI R. In 2012 Lori, along with her then high school age daughter Shira, began to keep their vehicle filled with pet supplies to hand out to the pets living on the streets of Riverside, CA with their homeless companions. They would give out pet food, leashes, collars and water so the pets would be fed well and kept...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
MENTORING
MISTY WELLS 5 Years ago Misty saw a need in children in Foster Care and she took action. For the past 5 years going strong Misty started a non profit called " A Reel Future" where she takes children in Group Foster Care fishing. She has single handed taken over 3,000 foster children fishing. She is showing them...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
KINDNESS
MOTHER TERESA Mother Teresa was born in Albania and left her home country very early in life. She lived in Ireland to learn English, and ultimately went to India where she resided until her death. She was a beacon of hope for many. She did not look to caste, class, religion, skin color, or any other identity to separate...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
COMPASSION
CHARLIE SCHULZ My son, Charlie, was an inspiration to many during his 19 years on this earth. When Charlie was in 5th grade, despite what we learned later was severe social anxiety, their strong sense of what was right led them to circulate petitions among their 5th grade schoolmates and write and present a statement (through...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
COMPASSION
ALWAYS STRIVE TO SHOW AND GIVE COMPASSION. ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SHOWN NONE. My entire life, I had to work, and work hard to avoid being the brunt of rude and Difficult bullying. Even from home, even from my Own Mother. Even at 63, I'm still spurned by my blood Family. It's Sad to Hurt a Child so badly that they have a hard time forgetting the Same Family, and School bullying. Especially...
SUBMITTED BY ANONYMOUS
Read Story
Where did your values come from?

We've all had people in our lives who have made a positive impact on us. A parent or grandparent, a sibling who was there for us, or maybe even just a guy who shines shoes for a living? Whoever they are, tell us their story so they can inspire us even more.

Tell Us Your Story All Everyday Hero Stories