Casey Tompkins

Submitted by: Katie Klute

I am nominating my niece Casey without her knowledge. :) In trying to figure out why Casey best deserves to win the MOM Makeover, I couldn't think of just one reason. It best starts by stating Casey is an amazing person. A single mom, she is always putting her 2 children first, setting aside things she may want to do or need in order to make sure her kid's lives are happy and fulfilled. At the age of 13 Casey found out she was diabetic. Being 13 is hard enough. Finding out you have something that sets you apart from the 'crowd' is even harder. As with many teens in that situation, she became a bit lost. By high school, she was struggling to keep up and her grades were showing it. Her high school career was a bit rocky, often choosing the wrong place to be at the wrong time. However, Casey being who she is, finally figured out that life is worth much more than what she was making of it and decided to change. Recently divorced, Casey again found herself in a tough situation. Without a job and without a degree to fall back on, she knew she needed to provide for her kids and began the difficult journey of deciding what that meant and how she was go to succeed at it. She'd been a mom for so long, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do outside of that. She spent time researching what was available and how it fit within her life and her kid's life. She finally decided on attending Charter College to become a Dental Assistant. A huge adjustment for Casey, she's never missed a beat. She gets her kids up, gets them ready for school, gets herself ready, drops her kids off at school and heads to her classes. I am proud to say she is nearly a straight A student, dedicated to becoming successful for her family and for herself. About 3 months ago, she found out her daughter (age 11) has diabetes. Again, without thinking a thing of it, she has made her daughter's diabetes her priority. She makes sure her daughter has the tools she needs on a daily basis to manage her diabetes. Having been through that, Casey knows how to be the support system her daughter needs. I know there are a lot of worthy moms out there. Heck, I think all moms should earn recognition at some point in her life. Who else would be selfless enough to exchange her name, identity, likes, dislikes, loves, hobbies, passions and goals all to better their child's life? Only a mom would do that. Casey lives by that every day.