Although remembering all the events that occurred between the time my mother and father got divorced, in 1986, to the present time is quite difficult, there is nothing that could make me forget my mother's strength and determination throughout the years that I lived with her. Being that I was only three years old at the time of their separation, some of the earlier memories are vague, but as I grew older, the way my mother pushed to reach her goals became more obvious. As a single parent, I feel that my mother defied society's gender roles and took on both "male" and "female " duties in order to provide for herself and for my sister and me. The way she lived her life while I was a child, and the way she lives it now, has taught me so many things about this world. One thing, for example, is not to believe in stereotypes. She always said, "It may take a man to move a mountain, but it takes a woman to knock the whole thing down." With these words in mind, I will always do what I want to do, regardless of whether or not it is stereotypically my destiny as a woman in our society.
             Unlike many others, my parents' divorce was very civilized and ended in a smooth and organized manner. Joint custody was granted, but both my sister and I lived with my mother, while visiting my father every other weekend. Living alone in the 90's with only one income is certainly difficult, not just economically, but emotionally as well, but for few years both my mother and father got through it. Then in 1993, my father remarried, and moved into a house of his own with his new wife. My mother, on the other
             hand, had already bought a house quite some time before that, all by herself. The three- bedroom, split-level house was powered strictly by electric. The bills were so high at times, I recall her mentioning to a friend on the phone that she would break down and cry after my sister and I went to bed, because she didn't know where the money was going to co...