Like many moms, she has a knack for calling at the most inopportune times. Last night she called while my fingers were covered in barbecue sauce.
However, when your “other mom” is 80 years old, you answer no matter what.
“I called you by accident,” was the first thing she said when I answered. “Were you eating dinner?”
I’ve known my other mom, who I call Aunt Connie, since I was 6 weeks old. My parents met her through church, and when my mom’s maternity leave was up, I started going to Aunt Connie’s house where I basically became part of their family during the hours of 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. while my parents were at work. Mike and Connie’s kids became my surrogate older brother and sister. Mike and Connie’s extended family and friends became my other aunts and uncles. You see where this is going.
To this day, Aunt Connie and Uncle Mike and family are still a huge part of my life. They’ve been there for graduations and various moves. They were there for my wedding and she was in the delivery room when my son was born since my mom could not be. They showed up at my house in the early morning hours the night after my husband died, after driving all night. There has never been a visit to my hometown — whether on break from college or now on a visit or just passing through — in which I will not stop and see them.
Every now and then I’ll do something or say something and stop and think, “Wow, I really am my Aunt Connie” as I’ve taken on many of her traits and behaviors.
They are my family, Aunt Connie is my other mom. They are family to my family. They are bonus grandparents to my son.
Not a Mother’s Day has gone by in my life in which I haven’t done something or given something to Aunt Connie as a thank you. All the “other moms” in our lives deserve recognition on this day, just like our own mothers.
Like the special aunt who you just have that unique bond with, the one you call to chat with just because. The one you can say anything to, and she won’t judge you. Sometimes you call her just because you love the way she laughs.
There are all the moms of your friends who have given you rides all those years, picked you up and dropped you off when your own parents could not. The ones who fed you, let you sleep over and cheered you on at events.
To all the neighborhood moms who look after our kids when they are roaming from house to house, playing outside in the neighborhood — thank you! Thank you for cleaning up those skinned knees when our child falls in front of your house, for handing out cups of water, juice boxes or popsicles on hot days and for texting all us moms to let us know when our kids end up at your house and that they’re having a great time in the backyard.
Let us not forget all the teachers who so often go above and beyond to treat so many of their students as their own, by digging into their own savings to feed them snacks when they are hungry, offering school supplies when they may have none and taking time out of their own personal schedule to make sure students don’t fall through the cracks. Teachers rarely forget or stop caring about their students — my first grade teacher sent me cards when my own mother passed away in 2022, and on her subsequent birthdays. Teaches are moms from afar.
Remember, sometimes women aren’t mothers themselves, yet they show up for kids when their own parents cannot. They don’t do this because they have to, they do this because they care.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, all the “other moms” and all the women out there who are doing all the things to raise our kids. Here’s to you, you deserve much more than just a day.
Rachel Brougham is the former assistant editor of the Petoskey News-Review. You can email her at racheldbrougham@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Happy Mother’s Day to the moms — and all the ‘other moms’
Reporting by Rachel Brougham, Community Columnist / The Petoskey News-Review
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