Ever since being enclosed in my mom’s stomach, I’ve been quite literally surrounded by mothers. In fact, sometimes it felt like I had six moms growing up.

Grams, my grandpa’s mom, was my Yoda growing up. We’d spend most of our days in her sewing room, while the others were spent on the couch playing Sudoku and crocheting. She taught me everything that I know and love today.

When I was around 10 years old, I held up my very own frog-themed quilt and thought, “I made a quilt all by myself!” I’ll look at that quilt today and know that the most I did was run some fabric through the machine.

When I was in fifth grade, I had a business fair and decided to sell handmade crochet hats. I made five, Grams made the other 20. We sold all but one. Here I thought again, “Wow! I can’t believe I made a living selling my very own hats!”

Grams made me think I did everything on my own, giving me the blind confidence that I needed and still use today. 

Now, I can sew a pretty mean hemline and whip up a crocheted hat in an hour.

My grandma’s mom, G-Donna, as I called her, was my partner in crime. After Grams died during my freshman year of high school, she and I needed a friend.

So we joined forces. She and I were two opposite peas in a pod, and went by the name, “G-Donna and Schwanz.” (Schwanz is a family nickname for me that I won’t dive into, as it’s a long story.)

In my sophomore year of high school, we set up a photoshoot at the church to be in the bulletin and hand out Christmas cards. There we were, back to back, in the towel jackets Grams was known for making, on the card that read “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from G-Donna and Schwanz!” Everybody knew from that point on, we were the next dynamic duo to watch.

G-Donna taught me how to bake, make jelly, and she really tried to teach me how to be clean and organized.

If she wasn’t telling me how much she loved me while making caramel rolls, she was telling me to clean my room. She died last spring, and I’m incredibly thankful to have had her in my life for as long as I did.

My great-aunt, Auntie G, and I bond over our love for penny slots. She’s taught me how to cash out, wave the ticket, put it back in, and the machine thinks you’re a new person. It’s impossible not to win big this way, we say as we walk away breaking even.

While my mom was busy squeezing the sugar out of our Raisin Bran, my aunt, Auntie, always had a pantry full of Pop-Tarts and Fruit Loops.

Auntie is the embodiment of the “fun aunt” and provides a nice change of pace to my mom, who my sisters and I call FP, or the “Fun Police.”

Alright, I’ve got two more moms to talk about.

My grandma is my best friend. She truly is. She’s the first person I call if I need any kind of life advice.

The best advice she ever gave me was, “There’s no such thing as too much sparkle,” saying that if people aren’t literally blinded by your light, you need different earrings.

Living with her and my grandpa for a year after I graduated from college, we would sit in her closet and talk about anything and everything as I was shopping for my jewelry of the day. 

Now, here comes the woman who’s responsible for you all having to read this, my mom.

She is what the cool kids call… the GOAT, or the greatest of all time.

My mom is the president and chief operating officer of an engineering company, and has been in management ever since she learned that talking can be translated into telling.

However, growing up, she showed my sisters and I how to embrace our individuality and be whoever we wanted to be. 

She let us dress how we wanted, pursue what we wanted to pursue, and speak what was on our mind. There wasn’t a sports game, concert, or play she missed. And now that we’re adults, not a day goes by that she doesn’t call.

The last time I was on the phone with my mom, she spent more than half the time talking to one of the two dogs my little sister begged her to get, while petting my cat Keith Richards. Did I tell you we also have another cat?

We’re all grown up, two of us live out of state, and the other is thriving as a dog mom back home. So Saidee, if you’re reading this, go check on mom. She’s talking to the animals again.

My mom is by far the most powerful, yet kindest, woman I know, and there’s no one I’d rather look up to.

I could write a whole book about the love and admiration I have for my mom, but none of us have all day, and my mom and grandma have pickleball to go to.

Happy Mother’s Day to every mom out there, but especially the moms in my life.