Suffering is the one thing that every human being on the face of this planet has in common. Every person faces troubles as they make their journey through life, and each person handles those troubles differently. I believe that it's the ability to endure and persevere through the adversities with great strength, and the ability to learn from these challenges that constitutes a true survivor. One group in particular that faces much adversity day in and day out, is the homeless. Each day is a constant struggle to overcome. The book, I Have Arrived Before My Words by Deborah Pugh, is a compilation of autobiographical writings from five homeless women in the Washington D.C. area. "They range in age from their twenties to their fifties. Four of them are black, one is white; two have drug problems; two have been in prison; three are mothers;...two have problems with mental illness; one is disabled; four were victims of sexual abuse..."(Pugh viii). All of these women have incredible memoirs, and the stories are profoundly affecting. In the praise section for the book, Judy Leaver, the Vice President of the National Mental Health Association says, "The courage of these women is humbling and their survival heroic." Judy Leaver makes many claims in this one sentence alone, an important one being Ms. Leaver's declaration that the women of I Have Arrived Before My Words are survivors. In this case I am in absolutely, completely, and entirely in full agreement with her claim.
             Each word in the English language has a different meaning for each person perceiving it. More specifically, the word survivor could have countless different meanings. Webster's Dictionary defines it as "continuing to live or exist"(417), but I feel that this particular definition barely scratches the surface. In my opinion, being a survivor isn't just "continuing to live", it is a person that gets tougher as the sit...