CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WVEC) — "Get excited!"
That's Teresa "Tee" Bolden's motto. It fits her bubbly personalty and glamorous style — a style that Tee says is ironic for her.
"I grew up with four brothers before my sister came along," Tee says. "I used to play in mud, and now I play in makeup. Can you get excited about that?"
Her childhood also includes memories that are much worse.
"I was a product of molestation," Tee says. "I was smiling on the outside, tomboy, but it was just a mask to hide the things that was going on in the inside."
Her teen years would present even more challenges. "I became a teenage mom, and I had to grow up pretty quickly," Tee says. "I ended up in a domestic [violence] relationship. He actually pulled a gun on me."
Things seemed to be looking up for Tee when she married her high school sweetheart, Orlando, and had two more children.
Then, in 2006, tragedy struck again.
"My oldest son Demarcus, you know... that's my teenage baby. That was my heart," Tee says.
"He was diagnosed with schizophrenia after he graduated high school. And then one day, you know, the worst thing that a mother could imagine... he committed suicide in our garage. And my 10-year-old daughter found him."
Tee sought therapy and tried to begin healing. But five years later, she would receive more bad news.
"I was doing my monthly self-examination, and I felt a lump."
Tee was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma—breast cancer. She was admittedly down, but not out.
Today, she's a Mary Kay Sales Director and is making the most of her chance to give back.
"The first thing [that changes] when you have chemotherapy is your hands," Tee says. "Your hands turn color. Your hands are dry... We have what we call 'care kits' that we give breast cancer survivors."
Tee also wrote a book called, "Recipes for My Daughters."
"It's a way to discuss life situations over comfort food," Tee says. "It talks about molestation, bullying... just some different resources of how to get help."
Tee says life has taught her many lessons, but learning to encourage herself is the one she lives by.
"I'm living my life like it's golden. My name is Teresa 'Tee' Bolden! Get excited!"