Our friend Gigie is a thirty five year old mother with a precocious five-year-old daughter, but that's not what makes her special. Five years ago Gigie was diagnosed with a life threatening brain tumor, and at that time the doctors only gave her two years to live. During these past few years Gigie has had to desperately fight for her life. Just as Scout in Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird learns what "true" …showed first 75 words of 1183 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1183 total…is against him. Calpurnia, Boo Radley, and Mrs. Dubose are common people showing exceptional strength. Fiction mimics true life. In the past three years, just like Scout, I have witnessed in our friend Gigie the kind of bravery Atticus describes about Mrs. Dubose. Gigie is the bravest person I know because like Mrs. Dubose, she knew she was licked before she began, but she began anyway, and she has seen it through no matter what.