Moreover, I also feel and know in my heart that he does not deserve any credit or recognition for raising me and helping me become the young woman that I am Today. The only person who deserves credit for my education is my mother, the woman who raised me since I was born. For me, she is both my mother and my father because after my father left, my mother worked hard, day and night, to take care of my brother and me. I remember sitting in my little single bed, cold and alone, at midnight, listening to my strong, independent mother crying through the walls, because of the situation we found ourselves in; it left me, at such a young and vulnerable age, confused and uncertain about my family's future. My teenage mind couldn't comprehend the difficult times my mother faced every day, and I knew she didn't deserve any of these hardships.