Mom to Jayden age 7,
Zahra, age 5 and Eli, age 4
Alexandria, VA
Sonia MD Akpa
Nominated by Charles Akpa
Sonia is a humanitarian and
mother of three children. She’s
always volunteering to help in the
community, whether it be to run a
race for a cause or to fix lunch for the
homeless. She recently helped an
organization renovate a playground
in a low-income neighborhood in
Alexandria,VA. She is also working to
start an organization of young adults
willing to help in the community. She
shares her passion with her kids, and
motivated her oldest son to run with
the Marines in order to help his school
get a grant. She always says, “In order
to live at your fullest, you’ve got to
pour the love and strength inside of
you into your family, your community
and your country.”
What’s the best parenting advice
you’ve ever received?
Learn how to be organized so that
you will enjoy being a great mother.

What advice would you give to new or
expectant mothers?
You are not perfect; keep doing your
best. Don't worry. With good intentions
at heart you will still be a great mom!
How has motherhood changed your
outlook on life?
I became less selfish with great
senses of discernment and observation.

Describe a favorite mom moment.

When my children asked, “Mommy,
how did I get here?” while we were
looking at their baby pictures. I told
them their father and I prayed to have
children and while I was sleeping God
put them in my stomach.

Who is your role model?
Mother Teresa.

22 May 2016 washingtonFAMILY.com
In order to live at your fullest,
you’ve got to pour the love and strength
inside of you into your family, your
community and your country.

What goals do you
have for yourself?
Enjoy life. Be
happy. Make my
family happy and
leave a positive
impact on the
world. What goals do
you have for your
children? Encourage and
love them to the
fullest so they can
become great
leaders of tomorrow and positively
impact the world. We need more
volunteers and
more leaders to
make this world
a better place,
starting in our
families. What are some
of your greatest
accomplishments? Some of
my greatest
accomplishments were made on an
emotional level. I
managed to rebuild
my self-esteem. I started to encourage
myself more and to be at peace after
many mistakes I regretted for years.




Toula Mitrakas
Mom to Julien, age 27
and Stephanie, age 24
Ashburn, VA
Nominated by Julien Garman
Growing up, my mom devoted
everything to my sister and me. As
a single mom of two daughters, she
worked multiple jobs to provide for us.

She spent her “spare time” reading
to us, helping us with homework and
teaching us about unconditional love
through her actions. And when we
learned she had breast cancer last
year, she smiled her way through the
pain and exhaustion, making each
chemo treatment into something
we should celebrate — a picnic
lunch to celebrate the first session
down, champagne on the last day of
radiation and cake for the last day of
chemo. She’s our inspiring hero.

What’s the best parenting advice
you’ve ever received?
You can never, ever spoil your child
with too much love.

What advice would you give to new or
expectant mothers?
It’s taken from a poem I used to have
in my daughter’s nursery. “The cleaning
and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, we’ve learned to
our sorrow. So quiet down, cobwebs,
dust go to sleep. I’m rocking my baby,
and babies don’t keep.”
How has motherhood changed
your outlook on life?
Funny, but I thought I had a lot of
answers until I became a mother. It’s
only then that I realized how much I
DIDN’T know!
What goals do you have for yourself?
of a sudden, I heard this “scolding”
from downstairs, so I quietly walked
downstairs, not knowing what I would
see. There was my daughter, jumping
on the couch, saying in my mom voice,
“Get down…get down, I said, get
down!” How do you think your children
would describe you?
Describe a favorite mom moment.

They say imitation is the sincerest
form of flattery. What they don’t tell
you is when your kids imitate you, it’s
probably NOT flattering! One day I
had just dressed my older daughter
in her “Easter best” for church and
was dressing her younger sister. All
Oh, there’s so many ways I could
answer that one! I hope they would say
they always felt loved and I tried to give
them experiences that would make
them happy and healthy.

Who is your role model?
My father.

To continue spreading awareness
about detecting breast cancer early, to
continue making the most of every day
and to keep new experiences a priority
for me. For example, I really want to
take a real estate course online and
do something creative like take a cake
decorating class. My big goal is to own
a small home by the ocean and to help
those in need.

What goals do you have for
your children?
To be content in their careers, love
their family more than anything and
always put God first in their lives.

What are some of your greatest
accomplishments? Raising two girls in the D.C. area as a
single mom, becoming “Teacher of the
Year” twice and being a breast cancer
survivor. washingtonFAMILY.com May 2016 23