AARP Rewards Mother's Day Contest 2026!

 Our momma was sweet, kind and as her child you always felt safe and loved. She would answer all our questions, “but why mom” with the most simple answer to satisfy us.   I was probably 14 and nervous to tell her what I did.  “ Mom, I did something bad and I need to tell you”.  She took my hand and looked at me with her kind eyes and said, “before you tell me, do you think you can fix it”? I said, “maybe I can.” “Well why don’t you go do just that and if you still need me it’s ok.”  I did fix it and her advice was golden. I am now 73 and her advice has helped me several times. Thank you for letting me share my story. 

The recovery from my mom’s neurosurgery was not progressing well. I went to see her, understanding that her time was almost up. It was clear she wanted to communicate something to me. She struggled to form words, finding it quite challenging. After about 20 minutes, she said my name and then smiled. She then closed her eyes and gently fell asleep.

We always went to church on Mother's Day.  All the ladies would be dressed up with new hats.  My Mother had a hat that was as big as a sunbonnet and filled with flowers.  People would tell her she had to sit in the back because they couldn't see around her hat!  We then went to Granny's house where all the aunts and uncles in the near area would show up with lots of food.  All my cousins would be there.  It was a great play day for us as young children.  As we got older, we were the helpers for the Mother's.  Almost all Aunts are gone except two...one is 1200 miles away.  Happy Mother's Day to all.  Enjoy them while you can.💕

Thank you mom for having super love.

If my mom had a superpower, it would be the ability to carry more than she should have to… and still make room for everyone else.
It would be the courage to keep going when stopping would make more sense.
It would be the kind of love that doesn’t announce itself loudly—but proves itself, day after day, in the smallest, most important ways.
And maybe—just maybe—that’s what makes it so powerful.
Because the world doesn’t always notice people like her.
There are no capes. No applause. No headlines.
Just a woman who keeps showing up.
Who keeps choosing love.
Who keeps holding everything together—quietly, stubbornly, beautifully.
So no, my mom doesn’t fly.
But she lifts people every single day.
And honestly?
That might be the greatest superpower of all. 💛

My mom and Grandma cared for everyone. They would always go out of their way to make sure that all my sister and my friends were taken care of and welcomed in their houses

• I lost my precious mom when I was 25. She was my best friend. The most important thing she taught me was to pray. Every night from the time I could talk we would kneel down by my bed and ask the Lord to protect my soul and to bless our family. She was never able to get to know her 3 grandchildren or her 5 great grandchildren. Love you Mom! Happy Mother’s Day in heaven. 

My mom is my best friend the one person who I can always count on for everything. But I have to share her with 3 other people mainly. My brothers and my sister. She always treats us all the same, never sharing more love for one than the other. She always seems to know who needs a little more attention at times. 80 years old and going strong. She is not perfect to the world but she is perfect to me in every way. 
i love her with all my heart. 

I miss my mom so much . My children and grandchildren were taken care of by my mom . I see their talents that they inherited from my mom . Because of my mother, my children and grandchildren are the best they can be . They are good parents because of my mom . Now I have great grandchildren and they are loved because my mom passed on her loving and caring characteristics. We miss you mom, grandma, greatgrandma and greatgreatgrandma Filomena Rocili . You are in heaven … our guardian angel … we miss you, love you but you are very very close to us … you are with us … your talents are in your entire family . Fly with the Angels mom .. Donna and Tami knows your secret recipes and is passing it to our Ohana.. you live through them … you will never be forgotten .. you and their papa  Rocili who soothe  them with his lullabies!!! 

My mother didn't make my life very easy--but as I aged I realized she was passing on what was done to her. Her family was living in northern Alberta, Canada when her mother got pregnant with her and her father, who rode with the James Gang, told her to get rid of the baby or she'd never see him again--and he left her there with a 6 year old daughter and 3 slightly older sons. Birth happened in January in a blizzard and there was no doctor or such around but her eldest brothers got a vet to come. The vet gave my pregnant grandmother some medication that put her in a stupor which lasted her Duration. My mother was born healthy enough and her siblings held her to their mother's breasts to nurture her, while they were eating oats they had for their horses. Never learned how word reached distant family in America but somehow a horse-drawn wagon showed up to take them all to Nebraska. Their mother ended up institutionalized until she died something like 25 years later. I was the only child of my mother's 6 that she took with her to Nebraska and I met my grandmother--though my mother never told me who she was, and it took a long time until I realized I had met her! The children were all put to work on farms/ranches and taking care of houses, though of course the youngest needed a few years to be useful for any of these. My mother tearfully admitted to me once that she was given treats or such for tattling on her sister and her sister got beaten, and at times was innocent! Favorite sayings my mother had for me were "You think you're so smart; intelligent people end up crazy or in the gutter!" and "You'll never have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of!" I realized they were things yelled at her that she passed on. My father died when I was 20 and already had a 2 year old son and twin boys about 6 months old. After the funeral we were at her house while people were coming with food and such and I was in a bedroom changing my twins' diapers when my mother came in and tossed a big envelope on the bed and said, "You might as well have these; you were named after her!" Photos from my father's first wedding when he and his best friend married twin sisters. They thought his bride, Myrtle, was so exhausted from the big wedding plans but soon after getting married learned she had leukemia. People didn't survive cancer back then. After her death her sister asked my father if he ever had a daughter to name her Myrtle. I was the 4th girl and was given the name, so finally knew why I was treated like trash while my siblings weren't. My older siblings gradually stopped having communication with our mother but I did NOT. Though I had gotten a scholarlship at the University of Arizona so moved to Tucson and she lived in Mesa, on the edge of Phoenix, I stayed in touch--while getting my next 2 Psychology Degrees to help me deal with my childhood AND to not pass it on to my children. I would go up monthly and take her to get groceries or such. When I called I'd ask how everyone was and I remember stopping because she kept saying I was the only one she ever heard from. I cared, and I know she appreciated and NEEDED it. Somehow typing these memories doesn't make it sound like a positive take on my mother, but it helped me become the strong, independent, hyper-caring person I am, who raised 5 children mostly by my Self who all are Good People (including a diplomat and 2 police officers)--who went on to become a Special Ed teacher and helped many broken children find their strengths and move on also!