All of my childhood and early adult life my mom weighed over 220 pounds. She never came to any school events. I have no memory of my mother attending anything with me at all. I often wondered if she maybe didnˈt love me enough to support me.
I would hear stories about when my mother was younger. She used to be the familyˈs number one dancer,dancing all night. I had never seen this dancing woman,though; the woman I grew up with had traded in her dancing shoes for house slippers.
As I became an adult,I began to understand people better. I soon realized that my mom loved me. After a while,I understood that my mom was in pain; however,I didnˈt know how to help her.
Fortunately,from somewhere,she found the strength to help herself. After more than twenty years of fighting against obesity(肥胖症),my mother completed an eighteen-month diet that left her ninety pounds lighter than before. A new woman was born!At age twenty-eight,I got a new mom!It wasnˈt so much her new body that was the surprise,but rather her new spirit.
To celebrate her new size,my mother joined a “Mrs. Forty-Plus” competition,where she would have to model,give a speech and provide a dance performance. She told our family that she didnˈt care if she won-she simply had always wanted to perform on stage.
The competition was intense(激烈)!Her speech brought tears to everyoneˈs eyes,and her performance copying Janet Jackson stopped the show. That night,at age forty-three,my mother was crowned “Mrs. Forty-Plus”.She was the first person in our family to ever win such a title. With this new woman,my mother was born again. She gave herself a new chance in life-as a model,a dancer,a mother and a friend. At age twenty-eight,I met my “hero”.