Let me start this story with a little bit of common sense. None of us would be reading this story without our Mothers. I know you have heard this from your Mother and God knows I have too, "Hey kid I brought you in this world, and I am the one who can take you out of it!" The one thing in this world you never want to mess with is a woman with her kids. I have known some Mothers who act like a angry Momma Bear around her cubs. This is all a good thing. The love I have seen with Mothers and their children is the deepest love in the world.

One of Fillmore's greatest Mothers is Mrs. Dann. She had ten kids. How she made that work is one of the greatest work of arts there is in the world. She had a child almost every year for ten years. Imagine the work load this woman had. Her kids still come to her for advice, along with her Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren (and she is the only one who can name every one of them).

We have some great single parent Mothers in this town I know who are going to see their kids graduate from high school this year. The love and hard work they have given is now paying off for their kids. Some will be going to college close to home. Some will be going in the Military. And some will be going on to bigger and better colleges in other cities and states. The Moms I know are upset to see their kids go. But they are very proud of them and say, "Go get it, you have earned it!" when they need to know that the kids could have never done it without the love and support of their Mothers.

One of the Mothers I have in mind is the Mother of my four kids, Trish. My kids are the greatest kids this world has to offer. The respect they show to everybody they come in contact with is because of their Mother. Trish has made sure all these years that they are where they need to be. Dance class, Band practice, School, Dr. Appointments, Etc...She not only takes the bull by the horns, she comes home and cooks it. She works night shift at Vons for the last 30 years or so, she also is the caretaker of her Mother. The only thing she ever wanted is what she has, four awesome kids that she is very proud of.

Another great Mother is my aunt Linda (Kay-Kay). At a young age she lost her husband. At the time she had a five year old son. She knew she was going to have a hard time of it, but she had to go on with life for her son. She has always been the Mom and Dad to her son. Now he is about ready to retire from the Sheriff Department. I know for a fact he would say I could never have done this without my Mom.

Then there is my Sister, Donneta. All of my life she has been there for me. My Mom said Donneta always thought I was her baby, and she was only two. She has always taken care of me, made sure I was safe. At times she has been so mad at me, but she has always loved me. She is the closest person in my life. This was the training ground she had for her own three kids. They are some of the greatest kids of all time. But it never stopped there for her. When she had to, she took care of anyone else she needed to. Her niece's and nephew's all love her very much. She is also so close to her friend’s kids they treat her like she is another one of their Moms.

Now folks let me talk a few minutes about my Mother. You may know her as Shirley Spitler, but at our house she is Mom and Granny to us. I do not want to talk about what she has done like business owner, or City of Fillmore worker, Leader, and Citizen of the year. She first off and foremost is our Mother. My Mom has three kids. At a young age she lost her husband. She wanted to crawl in a hole and die also. But she knew that she had three kids to take care of. She was tough but fair to us. We knew as kids who the boss was. She would teach us how to get things done. How to give respect. And teach us right from wrong. She later married her husband Robert, but he knew who the boss was in our house. My Mom would be our biggest supporter in anything we did. If I was playing a game, she was there. She’s the strongest person I know. I love and respect nobody more than I do my Mom. My Mom is in her fourth battle with Cancer right now. And let me tell you folks she will kick the Cancer's butt again, then put up her dukes and say "Who's next!?!" If you look at her family we are all a part of this great woman we call Mom and Granny. We are all so proud of her and love her so much.

So good people from Fillmore, I know last weekend was Mother’s Day. But the love she shows for you is everyday, all day. So make sure you let your Mom always know how much you love her for all she has done for you. Because like I said before at the start of this story, "Remember boy I brought you in this world, and I can take you out of it!" God bless all of the Moms out there. And Mom I love you!