My mom is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She has been my teacher of what being a mom and a grandmother looks like. Her name is Joyce, which means Joy, and that is the word that describes her the best—she brings joy to everything she does.
My mom told me the person who most impacted her life was her grandmother—Grandma Ives. Great-Grandma Ives, my mom’s grandmother, was a pivotal person in my mom’s life. She died at the age of 63 when my mom was 11 years old, but her impact has lasted through generations.
My mom was two years old when WWII happened, and her dad joined the military. When my mom was very young, her family lived with her grandparents, and she shadowed her grandmother, watching her cook and bake to feed farmhands and take care of her prosperous farm.
After my mom’s family moved into their own home, her grandmother would come to get her and her sister every weekend and take them back to the farm. Her grandmother provided a stable and secure environment for my mom and aunt. My mom’s dad was an alcoholic, and after work, he and my grandmother would frequent the bars. My mom decided when she grew up, she wanted to be like her grandmother—hard-working, cheerful, and faithful—and she was.
My mom had six children, kept a meticulous house, and worked part-time until her youngest was five years old, and then went to work in the public schools. I remember my mother whisking through our home, always busy with putting a load of laundry in the washer or cleaning or cooking. She also was a great trainer, and we were all trained in the domestic arts. She did not try to do it all. She delegated chores, and we all had our responsibilities in our household.
My mother’s most frequent garment was her radiant smile, and she brightened every room she walked into with her laughter. My mom was a great hostess, and our house was the place most family holidays were celebrated. The house rang with laughter during these events, and my mom laughed so hard that tears ran down her face until she ran for the bathroom, making it just in time!
My mom was faithful to my dad. My dad struggled with alcoholism. My mom never gave up on him although she says there were times it was really, really difficult. My dad did experience sobriety. My mom attributes AA and Al-anon with helping them. She said that Marriage Encounter helped to save their marriage. They were married for 52 years before he died.
For the last five years of my dad’s life, my mom was his caregiver. My dad had a major stroke that left him speechless with poor mobility and limited use of his arm. My mom took him to physical therapy and music therapy and to all his doctor’s appointments. She also took him on a train trip through the Canadian Rockies—a dream trip for my dad.
My mom kept faith with her family—she has never given up on any of her children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren. For as long as I can remember, my mom gets up every morning and prays for her family.
In the last few years my mom has battled cancer, but before this, she would get up every morning and go to church, and pray for her family. She has prayed us through sicknesses, deaths, suicide attempts, divorce, addictions, difficult pregnancies, etc. Whenever I need someone to pray for me or one of my kids or grandkids, the first person I go to is my mom.
Mostly, my mom has been faithful to God, and God has been more than faithful to my mom. God has seen my mother through life. Much of it has been hard. Much of it has involved grief and loss and hardship. But there has been joy. There has been laughter. There has been love.
When I look at my mom’s life, I see that she has left us a legacy of love—a legacy she says her Grandmother Ives left her. Thank you, Lord, for this great legacy of love.
by Betsy Moore 
by Whitney Britton 
by Stephanie Ross 
