At what moment in your life did you feel most proud?
I hope this doesn't sound to lame but I feel proud every day. I didn't really realize how lucky I was until a few years ago. I was going through .. a "stage". A stage in which I'm sure everyone goes through and doesn't realize it at the time. The ugly teenage stage. You hate your life, you think your parents are always out to get you, all you want is your freedom and don't care about the consequences. I was a crazy little party girl. (Can you believe it?) I've done my share of unfair things to my parents. And usually the saying is, you don't know what you have until you lose it. Well, in my case that saying is true.
When my Mom and I were kidnapped a little over 5 years ago, we suffered hostage demands, physical and verbal abuse, and came close to death numerous times. It still amazes me how we survived so much, and eventually got out alive -- well, one of us did.
My Mom and I were used as leverage for my Dad to kill the Senator at the time, David Palmer. A man by the name of Ira Gaines was behind it all. I was freaking the entire time. Nightmares still haunt me as if I'm living through it all over again -- or as if I've never really escaped and my freedom has been a dream. But besides me being a basket case, my Mom was as strong as ever. She saved my life that day -- and I never really did get to thank her. I was proud to be her daughter that day, and every day after that. To know that a woman so great; so strong, I came from. And not only her, but my Father too. His courage, his strength, and bravery -- it all courses through my veins, in my blood; my bones. That's what makes me proud. Everyday I look into my Father's eyes and know that he's proud of me. Every time I look at my Mom in a picture and see her smile -- knowing that she's proud of me too. And now of where she is, she's always watching me, guiding me, and protecting me.