There were a lot of great entries, but I can only pick one mom to nominate for the grand prize.  This mom truly did one of the toughest thing a mom can ever do and all out of love!  She will be the winner of the $50 Walmart gift card and I will also be nominating her for the grand Prize.

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Nadine L says:

According to my daughter, my “beyond” was sticking with her through a very bad time in our lives. She was in a bad car accident, almost lost her life. She was prescribed Oxicontin for the pain from her many injuries. Unknown to me she became addicted to the pain killer. (call me naive or just blind to what was going on) She started using all her paycheck to buy more off the street. When she couldn’t afford that anymore, she went to Heroin, it was the same high (an opiate) and much, much cheaper. We battled through years of addiction with her. Program after program, hospital after hospital. It got to the point where she stole my car and my husbands safe with his employees payroll. That’s when I realized it was going to take tough love. I pressed charges, put her in jail and got her court ordered rehab when she got out. To this day she tells me it was that tough love and doing the hardest thing I have ever done (putting her in jail) to get her life straightened out again. I now volunteer at a rehab to help other drug addicted teens. She always tells me I went above and beyond and changed her life.
Some wonder why I would tell this story, but I think it is important, it can happen in any family and sometimes you have to go beyond your comfort level of being a parent and do something really tough. My choice came down to putting my daughter in jail or burying her, so even though it was the hardest thing I have ever done, I chose jail and saved my daughters life by doing so.

For the second prize winner we chose:

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sheila k. says:

At age 29 I was diagnosed with systemic lupus. At the time I had three young children and had miscarried two babies when the placenta began “mysteriously falling apart.” I was also suffering from bouts of arthritis, fevers, kidney pain, heart issues, and bleeding problems. About a year after my diagnosis, I started the lupus foundation for the state of Utah. I knew only one other woman with lupus, and I knew nothing about marketing or public relations. However, I quickly went about contacting local TV stations, radio stations, newspapers, and marketing staffs of local hospitals. The night of our first meeting, 96 people attended despite a raging snowstorm. Some of the people had traveled from Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Southern Utah. When the doctor, who was our first speaker, asked the audience if they would like me to start a foundation addressing the needs of lupus patients, I got a standing ovation! I was able to procure a free office space from a prominent corporation, and I also coordinated the first Western Regional Medical Conference — teaching doctors and nurses from west of the Mississippi about systemic lupus. For my efforts, the governor of Utah awarded me the Carnation Silver Bowl Award for outstanding volunteerism. Most of my initial work in starting the foundation was done from my bed or while scooting kids from school to soccer and dance lessons. My children learned a lot about compassion and helped me lick envelopes, add postage stamps, fold flyers, and other small chores required in running a bonefide medical foundation. Later on, I was diagnosed with about a dozen other rare medical disorders, and I now help National Institutes of Health geneticists develop theories about heritable collagen disorders. I have also served as a board member of the Paul Jacobsen Spinal Cord Foundation (Hospital to Home), which offers grants to those suffering from spinal cord injuries in San Diego County, California. It has been a rough climb, but I have been blessed with a beautiful panorama of associates and one-on-one experiences with patients and doctors.

It was so hard to pick the winners! You are all awesome moms!