Woman's Essay On Mom Wins Her A Cruise

In Contest Associated With Author Mitch Albom, Sandy Kelps Told Of Time Her Mom Stood Up For Her

(CBS)  A precious memory of her mom led Sandy Kelps to the head of the class in an essay contest, and landed her on a cruise.

In April, The Early Show launched the contest with best-selling author Mitch Albom, Borders Books and the Web community Gather.com, to coincide with Mother's Day.

The contest was called "Times Mom Stood Up For Me."

At the time, we spoke to Albom about what the contest entailed, its genesis, and his thoughts about mothers, including his own, who inspired his latest book, "For One More Day."

Between April 12 and April 25, people posted essays on Gather.com about an instance when their mother stuck up for them. Gather.com members voted 10 as their favorites, and Albom picked the one by Kelps as the winner.

The Elmhurst, Ill., woman's touching essay was about her mother sticking up for her on her first day of school at a new school. When she was being introduced to kids in her class, one pointed and laughed at her and called her "One Eye" because, at the time, she had a condition requiring her to wear an eye patch. She began to cry, and her mother marched to the front of the classroom and made a great little speech about how everyone's uniqueness is what makes the world so beautiful.

Kelps' mom passed away when she was 12.

On The Early Show Thursday, Kelps joined Albom and co-anchor Harry Smith to discuss what her essay means to her.

She was given a seven-night cruise for two, courtesy of Royal Caribbean International, on "Liberty of the Seas," Royal Caribbean's newest luxury cruise ship and one of the world's two biggest cruise ships, along with its sister ship, "Freedom of the Seas."