My mom will never get a Nobel Peace Prize for her life's work.

In fact, thanks to us kids, she went almost three decades without having much peace at all. There wasn't an award or accolade when she hit retirement age, either. In fact, she got cancer and is spending most of her retirement in pain. I don't remember her when she was young, full of life and energy, able to take on whatever I threw at her.

But I do remember when I got punched by a bully in fifth grade, when she drove down to the school and went to bat for me. I remember when I couldn't do algebra in eighth grade, how she'd spend hours at night trying to help me. She always gave me everything she had, which is why it's so sad that I didn't always respect her like I should've. In fact, by the time I turned 16, all we did was fight. I wanted my freedom. But she wanted to protect me.

Since then, we've butted heads on and off for the last 20 years. Sometimes we get along. But sometimes we fight like lions. I don't know why. Maybe relationships are just hard. But my mom already knows that, because when she was just four years old, her parents split up. Her dad struggled with alcohol and was pretty unstable. So one day, they packed up their things and left him. My mom didn't see her dad again until she was 34. My mom's mother wasn't very stable either. And shortly after leaving her husband, she gave both my mom and her sister to someone else to raise. And that's how it went. My mother's parents were never really present in her life.

And yet somehow, she'd always been present in mine. Somehow, from her struggle came 13 beautiful grandchildren who all have loving parents. Somehow, despite having never been raised to worship God, she was always the one in our house who tried to hear God's voice. Yeah, I don't know how she did it all. I guess she just chose to keep going, just like so many women do all around the world. Despite the difficulties they face--whether they have children or not, whether they're married, single, divorced, or widowed--women get up every morning and push forward. All daughters of Heavenly Parents. All beautiful and beloved. My mother knew there wasn't any prize at the end, any accolade to collect. But she did it anyway. And I may never fully understand it. But that's OK. At least I know she gave it everything she had.