Page 88 - Parents Magazine (December 2019)

YOUÑInspiration

T H E
G R A N D P R I Z E
W I N N E R !
My Parenting

Motto Is …

We asked you to sum things up in a
phrase—and your descriptions

moved and inspired us beyond measure.
Here are six winning stories.

“Don’t Give Up”
Joy Mermelstein
Trumbull, CT
“DON’T GIVE UP!” My mom
didn’t say this to me as much
as she shouted it. She made
me promise. On her head was a
chic scarf, and her eyebrows
were neatly crafted back into
existence thanks to her trusty
Maybelline. Cancer had taken so
much, but not her ferocity to
protect her children in a life that
would soon be without her. Little
did I know she was bestowing
on me the words I would need to
survive the most difficult time
of my life. I expected my mother
to die. Her cancer was rare and
untreatable, so it was logical that
her body would lose its hard fight
to a rogue cell. What I did not
expect was my son’s epilepsy.
Months after I buried my
mother, I was in an ambulance
racing to the nearest E.R. with
my 2-year-old son. He’d had a
seizure. The first of many. I ran
down the hall and promised
my unconscious toddler I would
not give up. In the year since
his diagnosis, I’ve said these
simple and perhaps cliché words
to myself everywhere: in the
hospital where we spent our days,
in pharmacies fighting for
his medication, during school
meetings where I lobbied for
the care he deserves. I heard my
mom’s words in my ears as I FAMILY: ANTENNA/GETTY. HEADSHOT: COURTESY OF THE SUBJECT.
crossed the finish line of my first

Having a family 10K. On days when I felt like
mantra can help you quitting, these words—“Don’t give
stay focused up”—resuscitated my will.
on the big picture.
After all, a promise is a promise.

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