Mount Pleasant Magazine May/June 2018

66 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.BestOfMP.com feature Alexis Williams Lisa Williams – Nominator Relationship: Mother and daughter Mount Pleasant Words that describe Alexis: tenacious, dauntless, empowering, protective, selfless My daughter always amazed me. From the minute I found out she was expecting, I knew she would make a wonderful mother. Her altruistic nature is apparent in almost everything she does. She has a genuine love for humanity, and I knew this love would only intensify with the birth of my grandson. However, just when I think she cannot surprise me, she does just that. My daughter has raised her son for 18 months with no physical or financial help from the child’s father. The father begged my daughter to give her son up for adoption when he was weeks old. Without ever having met his own son, the father conspired with another couple to try to sue my daughter for custody through sneaky legal maneuvers. My daughter found herself in a shocking third-party custody battle between herself and a couple who wanted to adopt her son. The battle lasted five- and-a-half months and was extremely grueling. They harassed her and put her through challenge after challenge, hoping she would give up. Of course she never did. When the couple finally gave up after their lies and ulterior motives were exposed, my daughter never filed for child support. Instead of retaliating, as many would have done, she celebrated being a mom and made up for the five-and-a-half months they took from her and her son. The custody battle robbed her of $50,000 and hundreds of hours of sleep, but look at the picture, and you would never know. She’s an incredible mother who deserves more support. My nomination is the most I can do from miles away, and it is nowhere near enough. My daughter deserves the same amount of happiness she has given her son.