"Mother of year' — 05/09/09

May 08, 2009 01:05 pm

— Whitney Conlin has an added reason to celebrate Mother’s Day this year and every year: Her mother, Gara Stewart, remains an important part of 14-year-old Whitney’s life.
An essay written by Whitney, a student at Verity Middle School in Ashland concerning her mother’s 2004 struggle for her life, was judged the best in the Ashland Breakfast Kiwanis Club’s annual “Mother of the Year” essay contest, and on the Tuesday before Mother’s Day, the club named Gara Stewart, 33, as “Mother of the Year.”
There was no shortage of nominees for the honor. More than 200 students in the Ashland Independent School District wrote essays nominating their mothers for the award. In our book, each one of those mothers is a winner. What can be more special for a mother than to have her child write an essay in praise of her?
“Do you believe in miracles?” Whitney wrote in her winning essay. “I do now. I almost lost my mother, and (God) gave her back to me.”
Ironically, Gara Stewart, who also is mother to a six-year-old boy, thought she was not being a good mother when she was ill.
“As a parent, I felt when I was sick, I failed her because I didn’t feel like doing everything I should,” the winning mom said. “The fact that she realizes I tried to be there for her is just unbelievable.”
We congratulate Whitney for penning the words to make this Mother’s Day really special for her mother. We commend all those mothers whose children wrote essays in their honor.