This is the third year that Long Island Parent has held our contest, an opportunity to give a local mom a chance to win a day of pampering by telling us why you deserve that time to yourself. We always receive dozens of heart-warming stories from moms who are dealing with challenges from domestic violence to miscarriage, as well as the day-to-day stresses of raising children. Some moms were nominated by their sisters, co-workers and friends, and everyone’s stories were poignant. We thank you for sharing them with us.
           
It’s never easy to choose which mom deserves our prizes: to appear on the cover of this issue, receive a spa treatment of make-up, cut and style and products from Tru Salon in St. James and two hours of free house cleaning from Teresa’s Family Cleaning in Rocky Point.

The Winner

But Jessica’s story and her upbeat attitude about her circumstances struck a particular chord with us. She’s a single mom raising two-year-old Brayden. She wrote to us that 2011 started with “my mother’s breast cancer returning. The months of her double mastectomy and recovery were emotionally, physically and mentally exhausting on her, and the rest of the family trying to keep it together.”

A couple of months later, Jessica and her husband separated and are currently going through a divorce. In June, she was laid off in her tenure year of teaching middle school English. So her financial circumstances changed drastically as well. Recently on her thirtieth birthday she moved back in with her parents.  And while she wrote that this combination of circumstances exhausted her, she also said that “this life-changing year taught me that life is based on perspective. I’m fortunate that I do have parents to go back to, an adorable son and good friends. Bad things will happen in life; it’s how you handle it that makes the difference.”

The Reward

Jessica says that for her 2012 is a clean slate, so we were happy to give her a chance to spend that “one day to step outside the day-to-day stuff.”
           
Thanks to the generosity Cheryl and Brian Duignan and their staff Jessica Crerend and Jessica Polzella at Tru Salon in St. James, Jessica spent a recent morning being treated to a cut, blow and make-up. She was interviewed by our media partner Waldo Cabrera, executive director of My Long Island TV, Verizon FiOS1’s news magazine. And then we whisked her off to our photo shoot with Susan Panetta, our art director, and Donna Alberico, our photographer. Brayden joined his mom and was a cheerful cover model who made us all smile.
           
Jessica says that she enjoyed the experience and was grateful for her time to be pampered. “I don’t usually sit by myself anymore, so when I sat down to have my hair done I had to fight the urge to check on Brayden. But I knew he was fine with his grandparents so I relaxed and gave myself the moment I had been hoping for.”

Liza N. Burby is publisher/editor of Long Island Parent magazine and a mom of two young women. E-mail her at publisher@liparentonline.com