It’s another Monday morning, getting ready for school after the relaxing weekend. I walk downstairs to see my mother towering over the counter making my lunch and packing it into my lunch box. I start packing up my books and making sure I have everything before I leave. Before my brother and I leave, I hear her shout from the kitchen, “ I love you! Have a great day and try your hardest!” My mother motivates me to do well in school and get good grades or otherwise I would be in trouble. She is the most ambitious, hardworking, optimistic, and loving person I know and I’m proud to call her my mother.

When my mother was growing up, she lived in a small house in Libertyville, Illinois with two siblings and three dogs. Her dad was a smoker and her house always smelled like smoke and wet dogs. She had to endure this horrible smell for most of her life but she was accepting of her father’s choice and she understood it wasn’t an easy thing to change.

After she finished grade school, she attended Libertyville High School. Most teenagers would go home and do homework, but not my mother.  Because she was hard-working and ambitious, she would go to work at Burlington Coat Factory after a long day at school. Even though my mother worked hard everyday, she made time to be a loyal friend to people who eventually became her lifelong friends. Martha, one of my mother’s friends, states, “I have known Dorene since freshman year of high school. For the past 34 years I have considered Dorene a very good friend of mine.” My mother graduated from high school and went to the College of Lake County for two years. While going to college, she also worked at Harris Bank to pay for college. A tall figured man, dark brown hair, with funky glasses also worked with her (A.K.A. My Father). They got married on september 1st, 1990 and 7 years later they had my brother, Alex. Two years later..out pops me!

I’m lucky to have such a great mother. I'm so fortunate that I have her because some people dont. She inspires me to do well in school and get good grades. My mother has rules about school and always says “Homework comes first, volleyball second, and friends third.” She will always ask if I need any help on homework and she will try her hardest to help me. She motivated me to follow my dream. I had a dream of being teacher when I was little and till this day she is still supporting me, encouraging me to keep striving towards going to college and getting a degree in teaching at Eastern Illinois University. She is simply just an amazing women all around.

Martha also stated, “She is kind, considerate, and always ready to help out anyone in need.” This makes me think of the time when my mother was driving me to my best friends house, and there was a car parked on the side of the road with a women inside. We didn’t stop then but my mother said if she was still there when we came back we will stop and see what’s wrong. Two hours passed and while driving home the car was still there. My mother parked her car on the side of the road and helped a stranger, she been having panic attacks so she couldn’t drive. She made sure she was okay and then the paramedics showed up and helped the girl. My mother will go out of her way to make sure others are okay. Plus Martha also said, “Dorene is funny and loves to laugh. I would have to say Dorene is one of the most upstanding and honest people I have ever known. She is a great cook, baker, and she throws the best parties. I have always called her “the hostess with the mostest!”  When I was three my mother started helping me bake cakes and cookies. I would stand on a chair and she would be standing behind me helping me stir the batter. I learned all my cooking skills since she is a book full of recipes waiting to be made.

Also her old friend Martha states, “Dorene is also a wonderful mother, wife, and sister, as well as a wonderful daughter to both her parents, looking after and caring for them in their later years of life. I really do treasure my friendship with Dorene. She is a once in a lifetime friend!” She kind hearted person and looks out for everyone even if they are strangers.” My mother is  unbelievable. She is dedicated to her children by making sure they have a better life then she had. She sacrifices her own time to watch my brother play baseball and watch me play volleyball. She is hard working since she goes to work for eight hours, goes to my volleyball games, then comes home to clean the house. She is an optimistic person because she has hope in my brother and I’s future. She is also practical she thinks through hard problems and decides what makes sense for her. Being a mother is a hard job to fulfill but my mother is the perfect candidate for the position.

There are no words to describe how much my mother means to me. Through out her entire life she has shown true determination by never giving up on the tasks she had to face. She is truly one of a kind mother, I wouldn’t want anyone else. I love her with all my heart and no one could ever replace her.