America Deserves A Raise

My sister Natalie is the most unselfish woman I know.  Her husband lost his job almost two years ago and after years of being a stay at home mom she had to go back to work.  Her two children went to the same elementary school and as she had spent hours volunteering in her children’s classes, it seemed logical that she would become a paid teachers assistant.  Even though her job brought some income into the household it wasn’t enough to support her family so for the first time in her life she had to apply for state assistance.  Then tragically last year a dear friend we considered our sister, lost her battle with cancer after weeks of suffering.  When she realized that she was in fact going to die, she asked my sister and her husband to become the guardians of her two younger children even though she had family living here.  Without hesitation they gladly accepted and even though it has been hard adjusting to everything they are a happy family.  My sister has always been the “mother” in our family and is always giving what she does not have to those in need.  She doesn’t ask for anything in return and has raised her children to do the same.  She has worked very hard to be a good wife, mother, member of the church and her community and counts each day as a blessing.  Her love of God sustains her, but I know that this gift would relieve a lot of the financial burden she has tried so hard to overcome.  And even though not everyone who reads this may think she deserves this blessing, I hope that just by reading her story someone will find comfort in the thought that there are still people out there who are truly good.  And I know that they hope that if they ever find themselves faced with the same decision as our friend, that they have someone as giving and loving as my sister that they can turn to.