NOMINATIONS FOR THE WORLD'S GREATEST MOTHERS

  Motherhood these days seems to be underrated by a lot of people, especially the political left. They have done the most to undermine the institution. No Hillary it doesn't take a village. As a former fetus, child, and now husband, father, and grandfather I have observed a lot of mothers in action over the years. If all mothers were as great as the ones in my family this would be a near perfect world. I truly believe in the saying that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Their impact is kind of like the impact that Jesus had on the world. Here was a man that was from common stock and probably never traveled more than fifty miles from home but he has influenced the world more than any other person in history. Mothers are like that. A good mother's main goal should be to prepare their children for heaven and not for Harvard. If they do the former they can conquer anything including the Communist reeducation camp known as Harvard.

  I will start the nomination process with my mother Donie Belle Brown Segroves. As a man I am far far from perfect but if there is anything good about me she planted the seeds. My mother made believing in God easy. She defined love and with her I was secure in it. Through her love I found God's love. Because of her I refuse to hate anyone. I hate what they do but I can never hate the person. She was loved by everyone and a testament to this is the fact that after my mother died at the young age of 39, anyone who knew her would never let me forget that. My sister Carolyn, who was my fathers daughter, by a previous marriage, told me that she loved my mother more than she loved her own. I only knew my mother for 12 short years and I look forward to the day that I see her again.

  My second nomination is for my mother-in-law Margaret Traughber Phillips. I have only cried at the death of two people in my life, my mother and my mother-in-law. Here was a woman who couldn't drive. If she went anywhere she had to be driven or she rode the bus. All she ever did was raise her own children or babysit for other peoples children. When I met Debbie I not only fell in love with her but her mother filled an empty void in my heart. Love oozed from this woman and touched everyone who came in contact with her. She was the sun and we were the planets. Everything revolved around her. Like my mother she died way too young but her funeral was the largest that I ever attended in my life. I have never seen so many flowers in one place. They say that my mothers funeral was huge but I couldn't bring myself to go. The size of  Mrs. Phillips funeral made me realize that you don't have to be famous to greatly impact the lives of all that you come in contact with, high and low.

My third nomination goes to my wife of almost fifty one years. The only difference between her and her mother is that she has had much longer to impact the world around her and greater mobility. Besides my children and grandchildren I would like to have a nickel for every child she has cared for over the years and had an impact on their lives and character. Like her mother she is the sun in our universe and we are just the planets circling around her. Everyone loves my wife. I am constantly in awe of the impact that she has on others. Debbie has a built in radar system. When we were young parents she would know if they breathed the wrong way or made the slightest wimper. She would get up to check on them and I would roll over and go back to sleep. She is this way with our grandchildren.This woman thinks of everyone. She knows everyone's birthday, graduation day, and wedding date. When I say everyone, I am not talking about just our family but everyone. If they don't get a present they are going to get a card.

For the sake of time and the length of this article I can't nominate all the mothers in our family but I do want to give them honorable mention. There is Misty, Melanie, Lisa, Carrie, Courtney, and Jordan. Their greatness lies in the fact that they all learned how to be great mothers from their own mothers and they have raised and are raising great children. As grandparents we are very proud of them and our grandchildren. God has richly blessed this family. As a final stab at the political left and feminism I am glad that our family has defied the trend that the left has tried to set. We are raising men to be men and women to be women. The impact of our mothers and good mothers outside of our family will continue to bless the world around us for a long time to come. God, good mothers and good fathers are the only hope of mankind.