These words to my mom mean way more than what it seems to most people. When I had just turned one, my mom Kimberly Buck lost her dad. Then when I was nine years old, my mom lost her husband. When I was about to start my sixth-grade year, my mom had a couple of seizures; we were having a yard sale at my aunt’s house, and my mom was home alone when she had them. She called someone and said that she vomited a couple of times, and I told her she needed to go to the doctor and she did not believe me and then her friend convinced her to go. She was there a couple of days; then she was released. The night she was released, she had a stroke. She was immediately rushed back to the hospital. Come to find out, Kimberly had an AVM in her brain. She had to have surgery. After surgery, she was in ICU for a tremendous amount of time; eventually, she was sent to Quillen rehab. There she spent a few months persevering her way back to health and was finally sent home.

A little while later, she started going to physical therapy in Johnson City. She discovered that her insurance would not pay for treatment anymore, so she stopped going. She is now completing her physical therapy in Jonesborough, and they have helped a lot. They have her in a brace that is built into her shoe and she sleeps in another. After attending Quillen rehab for two weeks, she returned to work. She has not let this hinder her attempts in providing me with a loving home. Keep up all of the work mom; it will all be worth it in just a short time!

This story is part of a series of articles from Michael Grindstaff’s Language Arts Class at Elizabethton High School.

Students were asked to write about inspirational people in their lives. The Elizabethton Star is proud to share these with our readers.