By Terra Avilla
Monica is a mom of two girls, and it feels like she is everywhere all at once in the best possible way.
She is always at the school, on the sidelines, at the events, behind the scenes, and somehow still the first one to ask what someone else needs.
She runs – from place to place and for person to person – at a pace that would put Forrest Gump to shame, but it never feels frantic.
She always is in a good mood, so much that it feels like she has quietly decided that our kids and our community are worth every ounce of energy she has to give.
What stands out is not just that she shows up, but how she shows up. She is present. She listens. She laughs easily, she’s down to earth, she is so kind and patient with little kids. She makes the people around her feel like they matter, even when she is running on fumes.
You see her heart in the small, unglamorous moments. The way she carefully chooses Angel Tree tags and shops for those kids like she is shopping for her own, making sure each gift feels thoughtful and specific, not just “good enough.” (I just ran into her shopping for her tags as a matter of fact!)
The way she steps into events like Holiday with a Hero or school fundraisers and just gets to work without needing her name on anything.
At Richmond Elementary, she is the PTA go to person, but also the one you’ll catch wiping tables, stacking chairs, or comforting a kid who had a hard day. I know this because Pearl loves her Ms. Monica! She helps in classrooms, supports teachers, jumps into turkey trots, volunteers as a coach, and makes it all look almost effortless, even though anyone paying attention knows it isn’t.
The funny part is, there isn’t some big, cinematic story about how our paths crossed…I honestly don’t even remember exactly how we met. It just feels like one day she was there, and from that point on, she was one of my people. Over time, in a hundred small ways, she has proven over and over that she is 1000 percent a good friend and a good person.
She is the kind of friend who checks in, who remembers what you’re going through, who shows up when it’s fun and when it’s not. She doesn’t chase attention; she just quietly lives her values, and the rest of us get the benefit.
Our community doesn’t run on big speeches or big titles. It runs on people like Monica moms, volunteers, friends who choose, day after day, to pour themselves into this place and these kids. That’s why we love this place, and that’s a huge part of why we love her.
