Local moms share heartfelt Mother's Day reflections

Just one word can’t describe every woman who will celebrate Mother’s Day Sunday, May 10. Some are birth moms. Some are adopted moms, stepmoms or foster moms. Some are grandmas or aunts who stepped in as Mom.

There are moms with babies in their arms and moms with babies in heaven, moms with special needs children and single moms who are trying to be dad too.

Mother’s Day is the time to thank the moms in your life, but it’s also a time when moms reflect on being a mom. They remember the tiny babies in their arms and worry about the adult children with their own babies. They think of regrets, remember first steps and first days of school, and cry for the tiny hands they used to hold.

Being a mom is hard. It’s mom guilt. It’s exhaustion. It’s tears and frustration.

And it’s the biggest blessing.

“I am so thankful that the Lord chose me to be the mom to our boys. It is the most rewarding job I have ever had,” said Cherie Reveal, mom to Chase, Austyn, Riley and Jakob.

Jenna Regula is Mom to 5-year-old Avery.

“I still remember the morning after she was born, sitting in the hospital bed, just staring at her. I couldn’t believe she was mine, and I couldn’t get over how much she looked like me,” Regula said. “She still looks and acts so much like me. She’s full of personality and sass, and she keeps me laughing with her unexpected jokes. Being her mom makes me want to be the best version of me for her.”

The mom and daughter duo loves to be creative together, doing crafts or drawing.

Nicki Cochran has three children. Laura is 13, Dana is 11 and Holden is 8.

“Being a mom is the most rewarding challenge I’ve ever faced. The love and protectiveness I feel for my kids is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before,” Cochran said.

“I can tell you that motherhood is harder now that they are grown adults, on their own with families and kids of their own," Stacey Selders said. "I feel like I worry more now than I did when they were teenagers. But I know it’s awfully lonely without them every day. But I feel like this is what was meant to happen for them to get to this point in their lives. I guess I can pat myself on the back. But what I wouldn’t do to have them little again.”

Kelsey Duhamell is a mom and a stepmom. She said being a mom brought so much love and joy into her life. “It really is like watching your heart walk outside your body. You live and breathe for them, even if you are struggling yourself,” she said.

She said some of her proudest moments as a stepmom are getting to see glimpses of herself in their personalities. “Even though we don’t share DNA, I have made an impact within them.”

She also said watching her son grow and learn has been amazing and heartbreaking.

“I think I will always crave holding him as a newborn. How I wish I could look and study his sweet, little face while tracing it with my finger one more time," she said. "This time I would really soak it all in rather than wishing it away, spending my days in survival mode. It really does go by so fast.

“I often remind myself to stop and enjoy the moment because I know they won’t last. One day I will pick him up and set him down and will never be able to pick him up again. I know that day is coming.”

Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing ladies who step up every day to care for and love their families.