I Nominated My Wife

The Godiva chocolate company… the folks behind the mouth watering chocolate.. have an annual thing called the “Lady Godiva Program” to honor inspirational women. So for the second year in a row I’ve nominated my wife. The last couple of years all the nominees have been women who run non-profits or charities… but I think they should consider everyday women who are just as inspiring.

I entered her for this category:
Children, Families and Poverty: For women who focus directly on improving the lives of children and families, including initiatives in childhood education…

They asked for something unique… something creative.. so here’s what I came up with:

with cap and gown they walk the aisle
diploma in hand and an unbeatable smile

inner city students surpassing the odds
beaming parents and their approving nods

It was Gloria Zelaya who helped get them there
College Counselor is the name of her career

She gave up bigger money and private schools
and found a higher calling for her teaching tools

to help inner city kids without lives of privilege
find their footing and a home in a 4 year college

Wallis Annenberg High School is where she works
but South LA’s toughest streets have few perks

how do you convince students with little at all
that they can dream and succeed and grow tall

she does it with calm. she does it with love.
she teaches self esteem and confidence above.

each spring many of these students will succeed
getting that acceptance letter and taking the lead

how many kids has she helped? hard to say
dozens, hundreds, a new generation on its way

There it is. Nominees will be announced soon. Winners get $10,000 to help their cause and I bet she’d love to give away a couple of scholarships or establish a fund for some of these kids. She doesn’t run a non-profit. But most women don’t. Still some of the most inspiring people in the world are staring right at us if we just stop to realize it.