AARP Rewards Mother's Day Contest 2026!

My mother was such a beautiful soul. She was so loving and giving. Always doing for her family and never complained. She gave me the best gift a parent could give which was demonstrating her faith in God.  She was funny and so much fun to be around. She was also quite the fashionista. always dressing her best. My daughters and I love to share Nana stories and always get a good laugh. We miss her dearly! 

Shout out to my dearest mother! One standout out of many....She knew early on that I was special and told me so and provided for my needs as best she could given the hardships. She retells the story of how me being a toddler learned/able to tie my shoes at such a young age. This was so special to her and me! What stood out to you and your mom?

II shout out Happy Mother's day to my mom every year since 2009! My bestest friend I love and miss her dearly!!! She raised 4 of us and worked to provide for us the best she could,we never went without! If you still have your mom cherish every minute!!! Love you mom ❤️ 

My grandmother was an amazing woman. I loved to spend time with her. She would sew dresses for my Barbie doll that I still have. She taught me how to crochet and knit. Every Sunday when I was little I would go to her house and she would make polenta for me—the best ever!  The one thing I admire about her was her independence. She came to America to take care of her brothers while they worked in the Pennsylvania coal fields before moving to Ohio. There she also ran a grocery store/gas station/rooming house for the single coal miners in the area.  She did it all and I still look at her as an inspiration. 

I'm not sure how to enter and tell my story. I think I used some of my points to enter the contest, but I was not directed to the page or whatever I needed to do to enter. Is there any way you can check it out or tell me what I have done wrong?

Patricia

My mother is the strongest person I know. She has all my respect and admiration. She worked her whole life to give me and my sibilings the best she could. She went through several traumatic events in her life and yet she never gives up. Now, she is retired and unfortunately dealing with some health issues. Now it is my turn to be strong for her. I love you with all my heart mom.

My mom, although suffering from dementia can still melt my heart with her smile.

I was a shy child with medical problems and had a hard time fitting in with others my age. My mother was always very encouraging to me. She would say something like, "You can be anything you want. You just need to apply yourself." It took me many years to learn how to apply myself and find what I wanted to do in life. Over the years, I would always say to others, "I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up." It became a joke. I believe I figured out what my mother meant when she said I needed to apply myself. She passed away in 2008 but still has a place in my heart. Now that I'm retired, I still joke that, "I'm trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up..."

My father and mother often found humor in uncomfortable situations. When my father died at 55 it was a shock to the entire family. After his funeral, the minister came to our home. He was talking to my mother and asked, very seriously, if she thought my dad would have been happy with the service. She replied that she thought he would have preferred that someone else was in the coffin. The minister was speechless and I had to leave the room to keep from laughing. My dad would have loved her response. 

My mom was the strongest person I have ever known. She lost a father when she was young, her own young son at age 7 (hit by a drunk driver while crossing the road), and her husband when I was a young teenager. She was part of that "Greatest Generation", who came of age during the depression and then endured WW II, losing other family members. Growing up, we didn't have much, but what we always had, in abundance, was her unconditional love and support. Because of how she had to manage the many challenges life brought her way, she always told me to be independent, to make sure I could take care of myself, earn my own money, so that I could be secure, should the worst come to pass. She set the bar high for me, and supported and encouraged me, telling me that it was her duty to make sure that I used the gifts God had given me to their fullest extent, for myself and for others, something I still tell my kids today. I owe much of who I am and what I have to her. She was just an ordinary person- a bookeeper by day, part-time waitress, part-time seamstress by night and on weekends - but the lessons she passed on to me were invaluable, making her extraordinary in my eyes. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her, and thank God for the wonderful blessing He gave me...in the form of my wonderful mother.