There are many people who have impacted my life. The one person I could always count on to show me the right path was my grandmother Tootsie Herndon. She had the heart and soul of a fighter. She fought for many things from her community to family and eventually her life.
I am from a small rural town, near the Mexican Border. Here in little Brackettville we think it is an accomplishment to Google your name and your picture pop up. If you were to Google Tootsie Herndon's name, you would come across numerous pages on how she fought for this community. One of the main issues she fought for was to protect the water in Kinney County. She did this by running for and being elected to the board of the Kinney County Groundwater Conservation District. She was also active in fighting for and against proposals made in Austin and petitioning against them. She formed a group named "Grassroots" and defeated Texcor, an organization that wanted to construct a radioactive materials waste dump in Kinney County. After years of determination she finally defeated Texcor's efforts. This taught me that, if you believe in something strongly enough and stick with it, it will pay off in the end.
She always fought for what she believed in, no matter how high the odds were against her. She raised me from when I was two months old until I was four and again from my fourth grade year until she passed away at the beginning of my sophomore year in high school. In those years she instilled many life lessons that would stay with me for the rest of my life. She not only talked the talk but she also walked the walk. I never once saw her drink a drop of alcohol or take any other drug. She lived her life demonstrating strong Christian faith and would always help someone in need. If anyone in the community ever had a benefit or fundraiser, the first person on the list to help was Tootsie Herndon. To this day I don't mind lending a helping hand to someone in need. By following her example, it feels like I am keeping a small part of my grandmother with me.
She gave sacrificed so much for me, and I will always be grateful. She was the one person in this world I could always count on. I was what people would call "coddled". I went with my grandmother everywhere. I almost never stayed the night at a friend's house, if I did I would call her in the middle of the night to come and get me. I would sit in the middle of her Dodge truck; always right by her side everywhere she went.
Then one day after basketball practice I was told that she had a mild stroke. I thought that was bad, until the doctors later changed their diagnosis to something much worse, my grandmother had a malignant brain tumor. She passed away seven months later.
For me to see her go through chemo and radiation, to see the person I loved most and who in my eyes would live forever, have to go through such pain and suffering, was the hardest thing I have ever faced. She was such a proud and independent person from anybody and to see all of that ripped away from her a little at a time was tragic. I thought I would never get over it.
I rebelled, got angry, felt sorry for myself, and was mad at God. After about a whole year I finally took a good look at myself. I realized I had become everything my grandmother had taught me not to be. I had lost my morals and the life lessons I had been taught. I was embarrassed of who I was becoming. It took awhile but some how I found the voice of reason I had forgotten I had. The one thing my grandmother always said was, "As long as you can get up in the morning and look in the mirror and be proud of who you are, then you'll always be okay."
After I realized this I tried my best to turn my life around; worked on my grades, stopped feeling sorry for myself, and realized there are people out there in worse situations then I. I harnessed all the negative and now I am putting it towards doing something with my life to make my grandmother proud.
Sometimes I think that the reason the Lord took her when he did was to show me what I am capable of. I now know I can overcome any obstacle in my way and I am strong and life cannot get me down. For I know I will always have someone watching over me even when I go a stray. Even though she her passing she taught me a lesson.
I am from a small rural town, near the Mexican Border. Here in little Brackettville we think it is an accomplishment to Google your name and your picture pop up. If you were to Google Tootsie Herndon's name, you would come across numerous pages on how she fought for this community. One of the main issues she fought for was to protect the water in Kinney County. She did this by running for and being elected to the board of the Kinney County Groundwater Conservation District. She was also active in fighting for and against proposals made in Austin and petitioning against them. She formed a group named "Grassroots" and defeated Texcor, an organization that wanted to construct a radioactive materials waste dump in Kinney County. After years of determination she finally defeated Texcor's efforts. This taught me that, if you believe in something strongly enough and stick with it, it will pay off in the end.
She always fought for what she believed in, no matter how high the odds were against her. She raised me from when I was two months old until I was four and again from my fourth grade year until she passed away at the beginning of my sophomore year in high school. In those years she instilled many life lessons that would stay with me for the rest of my life. She not only talked the talk but she also walked the walk. I never once saw her drink a drop of alcohol or take any other drug. She lived her life demonstrating strong Christian faith and would always help someone in need. If anyone in the community ever had a benefit or fundraiser, the first person on the list to help was Tootsie Herndon. To this day I don't mind lending a helping hand to someone in need. By following her example, it feels like I am keeping a small part of my grandmother with me.
She gave sacrificed so much for me, and I will always be grateful. She was the one person in this world I could always count on. I was what people would call "coddled". I went with my grandmother everywhere. I almost never stayed the night at a friend's house, if I did I would call her in the middle of the night to come and get me. I would sit in the middle of her Dodge truck; always right by her side everywhere she went.
Then one day after basketball practice I was told that she had a mild stroke. I thought that was bad, until the doctors later changed their diagnosis to something much worse, my grandmother had a malignant brain tumor. She passed away seven months later.
For me to see her go through chemo and radiation, to see the person I loved most and who in my eyes would live forever, have to go through such pain and suffering, was the hardest thing I have ever faced. She was such a proud and independent person from anybody and to see all of that ripped away from her a little at a time was tragic. I thought I would never get over it.
I rebelled, got angry, felt sorry for myself, and was mad at God. After about a whole year I finally took a good look at myself. I realized I had become everything my grandmother had taught me not to be. I had lost my morals and the life lessons I had been taught. I was embarrassed of who I was becoming. It took awhile but some how I found the voice of reason I had forgotten I had. The one thing my grandmother always said was, "As long as you can get up in the morning and look in the mirror and be proud of who you are, then you'll always be okay."
After I realized this I tried my best to turn my life around; worked on my grades, stopped feeling sorry for myself, and realized there are people out there in worse situations then I. I harnessed all the negative and now I am putting it towards doing something with my life to make my grandmother proud.
Sometimes I think that the reason the Lord took her when he did was to show me what I am capable of. I now know I can overcome any obstacle in my way and I am strong and life cannot get me down. For I know I will always have someone watching over me even when I go a stray. Even though she her passing she taught me a lesson.