I would like to nominate my Mom. She is the most amazing person I have ever met. She’s fierce, she’s funny, and she is someone you should know. To express in words everything that she is and has done would be like trying to fill the Grand Canyon one grain of sand at a time, but I’m going to try. She has let me know that she loves me in so many different ways. My entire life she has always been there when I needed her. I went through a divorce last year and she was there with me, being my rock and inspiration. Her unconditional love and support has never wavered. My Mom has had many hurdles throughout her life, through it all she has built a successful business as well as relationships that will continue forever. She is a building demolition and excavation contractor. For 33 years, she has persevered in a male dominated field. She paved the way for other women in the construction industry. She was the first female owned business of this type. In 1974 she started the company because the local Heavy Equipment Operators Union denied her admission because she was a woman. She built her business from scratch, no one gave her anything. She is a brain cancer survivor, surpassing all doctors’ expectations. She is always been there for everyone, especially her family and she asks nothing in return. We have been blessed with her inexhaustible love. Five years ago her older sister’s husband died and she was left homeless and broke. My Mom took her into her home and life, gave her anything and everything she wanted and/or needed, treated her like a queen. The thanks she received in return for this were to find out that her sister (my aunt) and her husband (my father) were having an affair. She was betrayed by two of the most important people in her life. My parents were married for 35 years. That kind of betrayal would have destroyed most women; however she picked up the pieces and handled it with dignity and grace. She told me that the road of life has many detours and this is just one of them. My Mom is an avid skydiver and pursues her hobby most weekends. Her first jump was on her 50th birthday. She is an inspiration to all women. My Mom is the epitome of a woman being able to laugh at life and at herself. I love that about her. She is the type of person that people love to be around, someone who will be there for you, in good times and in bad times, someone who you are proud to call your best friend. Please consider her for Woman of the Year.

Signed,
Candi Reilley