In honor of Mother's Day, we wanted to share photographs of some of the women who have shaped our lives as well as some touching quotes about why our mothers (and grandmothers, great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers) are so special.
Someday I will be a better mother because of your presence in my life.
Elzie Harden holding her son Gerald. Also pictured is Gerald's father Dayton Harden.
“No man is poor who has a Godly mother.” - Abraham Lincoln
Eliza Yates and her son Clovis Guy.
“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.” -Washington Irving
Sadie Hardin with her son Greg.
"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his."
-Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
Elsie Stroup with her children Joan and Bob.
"I know how to do anything. I'm a mom." - Roseanne Barr
Joan Sutter holding her daughter Julie. Also pictured is Joan's father Clyde Stroup.
"The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children."
-Jessica Lange
Lucy Cannon (who was pregnant with her son Fred) and her mother Tina de Forcade.
“But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin.”
-Mitch Albom, For One More Day
Lucy Cannon with her mother Tina de Forcade and her daughter Tina Carignani. Also pictured are Tina's sons Carlo and Francesco and me with a turkey neck. Ha.
Laura Dumm and her great-granddaughter Julie.
To all of the mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day.