My Hero and win a trip for 2 to meet Annie Leibovitz

If you’ve been following my blog since the beginning you know that I’ve talked about my family a lot, especially my mom.  Well, today is her day to shine on my blog.  Allow me to introduce my everyday hero to y’all.

My mom may not wear a cape but she’s my hero.  When my parents were I believe 24 years old they got married.  My dad came to America when he was 25 and my mom followed after about four years. Yes, they were newlyweds and didn’t see each other for 4 years.  Back then there was no such thing as Skype and long distance phone calls were extremely expensive so they communicated mostly through mail aka good old fashioned letters.  My mom finally received her Visa and she was able to come to America.  See my dad came over here with his mom and dad, whereas my mom had to leave her parents behind in Poland.  She did this knowing she was going to have a better life and they both wanted the American dream.  Both of my parents are extremely hardworking people and they worked any job they could to make ends meet while my dad went back to college.  For those of you who don’t know when you go to college in another country, it really doesn’t count for anything when you come to America.  Pretty much, you have to go to school all over again.  My mom worked a physically demanding job while she was pregnant with me at 28.  She worked until I think only two weeks before I was born.  Once I was born my parents made the decision that one income was enough to pay for a comfortable living and my mom became a stay at home mom.  She is the best mom I could have ever asked for.  She’s taught me everything.  Before my brother was born my mom decided that since she didn’t have a second child yet she wanted to go back to school for Psychology.  She’s probably the reason why I want to get my PhD in Psychology because when I heard her talk about it, it would interest me.  Well, as luck would have it my mom’s first semester in, she found out she was pregnant with my brother.  So, yet again she put her life on hold for us kids.  Even though she never went back to school here in America, she did start her own online business, and is still going strong!  

She is my everyday hero because she is the perfect example of who I want to become when I grow up.  She made sacrifices and put her life on hold for the sake of her kids.  Even though I’m very career driven I will always make time for family.  She came to a country not knowing the languages with $10 in her pocket and just one suitcase.  That’s all that you were allowed back then.  She taught herself English and her grammar is actually better than mine believe it or not.  My mom has a significant amount of strength and I really admire her for doing everything she has done in her life.  She is a remarkable woman, and that is why she is my hero.  Becoming a stay at home mom for so many years before becoming an entrepreneur was the ultimate sacrifice and being a stay at home mom, in my opinion, is the hardest job out there.  

Now, here is where I tell you about this awesome way to win a trip for 2 to meet Annie Leibovitz at a city near you!  This launched in January 2016, but with the most recent International Women’s Day that just passed I teamed up with UBS to introduce this campaign to you.  Make sure to upload a black and white photo of you and your everyday hero on Instagram using hashtag #ShareYourHero (check out more entries here) and tag @UBS this is how you enter!  A random winner will be picked each month!