Hello, Loise, and Welcome to Steemit.

I'm sorry to hear of your recent loss / difficulties, but it's great to read how you and your family have dealt with it. You sound like a strong and dynamic young woman (and so does your mom!).

I'm also a writer / editor, and a former ESL teacher. So I will be glad to help you if you should need any assistance.

For starters, please peruse the following points re posting on Steemit.

1. Longer posts are more lucrative than short posts. If you make a post of 20–30 paragraphs, it's more likely to earn rewards.
2. Include some photos, images or graphs, to complement the text.
3. Make sure the text and photos are formatted properly, so that your post looks attractive and appealing.
4. Be yourself.
5. Be interesting and informative.
6. Create quality content. Steemit is intended to be a platform of quality content. (You will see many insignificant posts with meager content and no quality. Most of those of posts [called “shitposts” by Steemit whale Stellabelle] will earn few rewards and soon pass into oblivion.)
7. Get online and start curating. Read various posts, comment on those posts you find interesting, and upvote those posts. That’s the best way to attract followers.

Hope this helps for now. Good luck, and Full Steem Ahead!