Originally posted on: May 17,2020
Mothers – what do we do without them? Do you remember being scared as a kid and calling on to your “mommy”? If we think about it, our moms are almost always the first person we run to in times of need.
Even through adulthood, we can’t deny that we still call them to ask about doctor’s appointments, taxes, and cooking measurements. It’s true that no matter how old we get, our mothers continue to play an active role in our lives.
During the recent Mother’s Day celebration, three children paid tribute to their mother – a woman who fiercely battled through life’s many challenges.
At 16, Tracy Tate had to leave the family home and raise her first child alone.
“Even though my kids had to do without a lot, even without electricity and gas simple things like that, sometimes food, but you know what we were always together and things eventually did get better,” Tracy said in a video interview with ABC.
Tracy became a teen mom at 17 years old, and by the time she was 25, she was a single mother with three children. It was tough, but she knew she had to soldier on.
She raised her kids, and they helped her in return as she worked four jobs to bring food to the table.
Derek Chip, Tracy’s son, knew the sacrifices his mother had to make to raise them.
“She’s been thrown a lot of bad curves from life. And she could have easily thrown in the towel with three kids trying to make their dreams come true, trying to make her own dreams come true, trying to be a kid raising kids,” he said.
With Tracy’s unwavering strength, they all got through the hard times. Now, all three of her kids – Derek, Desiree, and Jon Jr. – are grown up and living independent lives.
But like everyone else, they never stopped needing their mother. She still plays an active role in each of their lives, even when they’re already adults.
“I always say that you know I’m the daughter of a dreamer, somebody like who can believe that anything is possible,” Desiree Miller said about her mother.
“She’s just always been that person to lend out a hand or help me focus or give me some type of advice, and when no one else was there was like, ‘hey I got you,'” said Jon Anderson Jr.
And in a home where they viewed education as essential, it’s no surprise that all four are now degree holders!
“As a mother, I always like to go, now I’m OK because every mother wants to make sure their babies are OK and by my kids having college educations, no matter if I’m here or not, they’re going to be OK,” Tracy said.
Indeed, mothers will do anything for their children, just like Zou Hongyan, a single mom from Hubei, China. When she gave birth to her son Ding Ding in 1998, she couldn’t contain her joy.
However, her doctors later revealed that the newborn had cerebral palsy. Because of his disability, the doctors and even her husband told her to give him up. But Zou refused to do so.
Zou believed that her son had the potential to live a fruitful life, so she divorced Ding Ding’s father and worked three jobs simultaneously to support him. She was there for every training and therapy he had. The single mom did everything she could to raise him through adulthood.
Years later, Zou’s sacrifices bore fruit. Ding Ding eventually graduated from Peking University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Sciences and Engineering. He then went on to study Law at the prestigious Harvard Law School!
Tracy and Zou are two mothers who played an active role in their children’s lives. Had they not believed in themselves and their capability to raise their kids on their own, they wouldn’t have gotten to where they are today. Even in the face of adversity, they remained steadfast and kept on fighting.
We send our love to all the mothers out there – thank you for everything you’ve done!