Nine Years the Conqueror

Nine years I've travelled this road.

In these nine years, I've cheered on one child as he earned three black belts in a martial arts discipline.

I've had another child earn her high school diploma with honors.

I've made countless trips to the hospital emergency room in the wee hours of the morning and endured an extended in-patient stay during a Christmas holiday break.

I've driven thousands of school carpools, chaperoned seemingly endless trips with the band, hauled musical instruments across football fields throughout the state, cheered at dozens of high school football games in the searing desert heat; attended parent-teacher conferences, band parent meetings, martial arts practices, and choir concerts.

I've trudged across soft sandy beaches, carrying bulky beach chairs and umbrellas in order to enjoy hours of relaxation seaside.

I've sung at weddings, funerals, weekly church services, and anniversary celebrations.

I've made small hikes alongs canyons and streams, stood at the top of a 9,000 foot vista, washed mountains of laundry, carried years of groceries, vacuumed floors, moved furniture, and hosted parties.

I cook, I clean, I drive, I shop, I sing, I volunteer.  I am mom, wife, friend, and sister.

I am the face of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension nine years later.

I am the Conqueror.