Dear Editor,

Write an Essay on who and why. This was the assignment given to me by my high school English Teacher. For me this assignment was an easy one.

My Hero - is the strongest woman I know, Angela Mason. This single mother battled a drug addiction for years and she fought it alone.

A drug addiction I knew nothing about until I was seventeen years old and even then the only way I found out was because of rumors. The people of San Saba have said alot about my family.

Since that summer my mother decided enough was enough. I am proud to say that they can no longer call My Hero an addict. The occasional rumor still surfaces, but My Hero holds her head up high, ignoring the hurtful accusations.

This strong woman, this single mother and recovered drug abuser is also the bravest I know. Last year My Hero was diagnosed with M-Avium, an extremely rare lung disease that only thirty percent of the people that have it live through it.

She has been in and out of the hospital since, and yet she never fails to see to my needs first. She is determined to live like any other normal person in the world. She refuses to give up, to let her illness over rule her life, so far she has succeeded.

This woman does not ask for much, only to see her two children succeed and be happy in life. She asks that they not follow the rocky path that she herself has traveled. I for one think that my hero has done a wonderful job in keeping her children from straying.

My brother Joshua is leaving for training in the Navy next month and I am college bound next year. This all she asked for, but now, God willing my mother will still be around for some time, to continue being My Hero.

Chyenne Mason

Cherokee, Texas