Finding Inspiration by Helping Children in Tennessee
by Sonia Meneses, Mission Continues Fellow

	Mission Continues Fellow Sonia Meneses has fun in the sun with children from Big Brothers Big Sisters

I would like to thank The Mission Continues for another chance! I want to let you know that it is a great feeling to know that someone believes in me and believes I can make a change, there are no words to express that feeling, and there are not enough words to say thank you and giving me another chance to keep going!

It has been a month in the half since my surgery, I am still on the road to recovery it’s much harder than what I thought. Some days it feels like I won’t make it and others I feel like I am just like everyone else. I know everyone has bad days.  Some people get a headache every now and then, take some medicine and move on. Well my bad days are a little bit more complicated than that. When I have a bad day, I pass out. Like today, I felt a little dizzy and passed out, my body goes into seizures, and I gasp for air. My supervisor at Big Brothers Big Sisters - Ms. Amy - was scared, and very worried, but for me it’s just another day. I wish I could tell someone that is going through the same thing that is going to be okay, but I can’t because it doesn’t feel like that. I know it’s not okay, and it might never be. But I can tell them that it’s not the end. You can still do so much, you just have to adapt to this terrible disease. Some people with Menieres can still have a normal life, but mine is too far advanced and it has been really hard to get back on my feet.  I can also tell them, that whatever your injury is, anyone can overcome it; you just have to find something that keeps you going. Like me I love to work with children and coming to Big Brothers and Big Sisters keeps me going. You need the feeling that you matter, and you will be surprised at how much people do care of you.

I am very thankful for having such great people around me. I always felt alone, and felt that no one would understand, so it was very hard. But now I have a new perspective on life.  The Veterans Outreach Coordinator at the Center for Citizen Leadership - Ms. Katie Wells - didn’t leave my side when I was in surgery and the whole time I was in the hospital.  I never had anyone that cared so much about me. My family is too far away and I don’t have any family in Tennessee.  Well now I do. Ms. Katie Wells helped me realize that someone does care, and I am very thankful for meeting her and having her as a part of my life, because I know that she will always be there! Ms. Amy Carroll also never left my side, until today she is still helping me.  I know she was scared today because she has never seen me like this, but I am okay. Some days are just tougher than others.

As a wounded veteran, I never expected to have a purpose or a mission, but thanks to The Mission Continues I do. I feel like I am being given a second chance at life. I don’t feel special or any different from any one else, just because I was injured, as a matter of fact when someone asks and I tell them, they look at me twice because I am a female, and some people don’t realize that females are also in combat, and we do things that the male soldiers do, we are out there fighting for our lives just like any other soldier is. That has been really hard to deal with too. But The Mission Continues, sees me as a wounded veteran and gave me hope to be a better citizen, and has helped me realized that its not over, by being able to help others, has made me realize that I do have a purpose, there is a reason why I made it, and there is a reason why I am here. I will find that reason, and I will do my best everyday.

Thank you once again for believing in me. I won’t let you down or my little ones down. I will try my best, and for anyone else that has a disability just remember life doesn’t end there, get back up, hold your head up high, and show the world that you can do it, that the disability won’t beat you, because your willpower is stronger than anything else. I know sometimes you feel hurt, and that you are in this black hole and you just don’t see a light anywhere but there is a light and you are choosing not to look for it, trust me, when you work towards reaching that light, at the end is very rewarding, and you realize that you can overcome anything. It takes time, I am still working on reaching that light, but I will not give up until I am there, and I hope you don’t give up either.

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