Joyce Knaus As A Role Model

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“She made broken look beautiful and strong look invincible. She walked with the Universe on her shoulders and made it look like a pair of wings.” - Ariana Dancu My heart pounded and my hands shook as I heard the overture begin for the show I was playing my first leading role in. I began to feel uneasy as I peeked out of the curtains to see a full audience whose eyes for all be on me any moment. As I scanned the audience, my head began to feel lightheaded from nerves and I felt as though I was going to pass out. My eyes landed on my grandma, sitting front row, smiling at me, reassuring me. In that instant, I knew everything would be okay and I was going to make her proud, regardless of how my performance went. She always had a knack for …show more content…

She grew up on a farm in Missouri helping her mother tend to the crops and animals while pursuing her love of adventure in Meramec Caverns, her first job and the place she met my grandpa. They, of course, fell in love and got married and were working side by side until my grandpa to serve in in the United States Air Force. While he was gone, she struggled like any women in that time period would have, but she managed exceedingly well. She built her entire home and career by herself while my grandpa served. She worked tirelessly to be the top financial adviser for her company during a time when women were not common in the workforce and men were seen at the primary breadwinners and successors. She led a tremendously successful career all while raising a family on her own. My grandma taught me what it means to be a strong woman and how to conquer anything even if it may seem insurmountable. That is why when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease it was hard for anyone in our family, including her, to see what was …show more content…

She was always front row of every one of my theater performances cheering me on. She paid for my acting classes, allowing me to pursue my passion. She was my motivation to not only work hard at what I loved to do but to also build character through the arts and strengthen myself. After she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he would still come to all my shows, but could not hold her memory long enough to comprehend my performances. There was no applause from her, no cheering, only silence. By the time I was performing my last few shows my grandma was too far gone to leave her bed. I cried before my last performance knowing she would not be out there in the audience to see me take my final bow. I felt as though I had lost my biggest

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