Today is to celebrate Mother’s Day! We honor our mothers with cards, flowers and tokens of love and appreciation. I have been blessed with a wonderful mother who raised me right. I thank God for her and for all of the sacrifices that she made to me. I would not be who I am without her guidance and her support. She is the greatest mother that I have ever met.

Me with Mommy Bernice.

Me with Mommy Bernice.

There is a another lady who I know to be a wonderful woman and the greatest mother even though  I never met her. I know her only from the memories shared by her daughter and the spirit that lives on in my wife. She is my mother-in-law, Gloriastean. I never had a chance to met her because she passed away three years before I met her daughter.

My mother-in-law, Gloriastean.

My mother-in-law, Gloriastean.

In spite of never meeting her in the natural, I feel that I have gotten to know her well through the many wonderful stories that my wife shared of her. From the times that she sang in the jazz clubs as a teenager, to the time she lived in California with her father and attended  San Fransisco State University as a music major and the stories of her driving a Cutlass.

My mother-in-law had a passion for life and a passion for excellence. My mother-in-law only wanted the best for her daughter. She gave her the best education, making sure she attended private school all the way through college. Her mother and father sacrificed and bought my wife a grand piano in college so she could her learn how to play. She also encouraged my wife to learn how to sew by investing in buying my wife a sewing machine so she could learn how to make her own clothes.

My mother-in-law had a passion for excellence in taking care of her house and her family. She instilled in her daughter the same passion. Whether it is keeping the grass cut in the yard or the floors swept in the house, I see that today in the way that my wife keeps our home.

My mother-in-law spent her life making sure that her daughter was taken care of and to provide her with a good life. Even though she is in heaven and I never met her, my mother-in-law’s passion deeply influences me today. It is my desire to take care of my wife the best way that I can. I look to my mother-in-law for this inspiration. I only hope that I can continue at the same level that she started. Thank you for being the greatest mother, and greatest influence, that I never met.