CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Brooklen Wilkes wishes she could spend Mother’s Day with her mom, but is incredibly proud of the reason she can’t.

Her mother, Pepper Wilkes, RN, is currently in New York on the frontlines assisting patients and healthcare workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My mother has shown me firsthand how to not only be a hard worker but most importantly to choose a career in which you are valuable to others,” Brooklen said. “She is braver than most knowing that God will protect her. I have never met such a compassionate person. As a nurse, mama always puts her patients first considering how she would feel if the script was flipped and she was in their place. Her eagerness to help others is at an all time high. She loves what she does and that makes me admire her even more. I am wishing I could spend Mother’s Day with her, but instead she is helping someone else be able to keep their mother.”

Pepper Wilkes was a single mother as she raised her  three children: Brooklen, 18, Brandon,23, and Braye, 22.

“Our mother never let us do without. We were all very active in school with sports, clubs and extracurricular activities,” Brooklen said. “As many know that can be expensive. All have heard the saying, ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way,’ and our mother was full of will power and always found the way.”

Pepper Wilkes, has been a nurse for 18 years.

She is a graduate of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. She earned her Associate of Science degree in nursing and began working at Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton, GA. She later worked in the SICU at Pheobe Putney Memorial Center prior to her career as a supervisor for Suncrest Home Health in Adel, Ga. In 2015, she moved to Clarksville where she has been caring for patients at Tennessee Quality Care.

While juggling her career, Brooklen said her mother taught and showed her so many things to shape her into who she is today.

“My mother has inspired me in ways that will reflect the rest of my lifetime, and she has rounded me into the human I am today,” Brooklen said. “She has taught me lessons and strategies I will use every day for the rest of my life. I learned at a young age that you can not judge people by the way they look or the lifestyle they may portray. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect because you never know the burdens that another person is carrying. She always points out the positive even in the most negative situations. She has shown me the importance of being an independent woman.”

While her family was worried about her and tried to change her mind about going to New York, they understood her commitment. 

“She lovingly nurses her patients back to health,” Brooklen Wilkes said. “Mama explained to the family that she entered the nursing field to care for others and that she feels God calling her to offer her services in New York City to fight the Coronavirus pandemic. I pray that one day I too can impact lives the way my mama does. Happy Mother’s Day, mama, in New York City. Stay safe.”