ABSTRACT
Mark's story is one of inordinate human strength and endurance. His powerful will to survive on his own terms left his family with the gift of knowing he had persisted for the sake of attaining his own goals. He had learned this lesson from his mother, who was well acquainted with grief and hardship. Through it all, she taught her children the value of education and hard work. As she once again, at the age of fifty-nine, stepped into the role of mother to her threeyear-old and five-year-old granddaughters, she also took charge of the care of her oldest son as he was dying of AIDS.
