I participated in an Ambassador Activation on behalf of Dad Central for the Northwestern Mutual Foundation. I received a promotional item to thank me for participating.
Mother's Day is now over. Hopefully you were able to spend some time with your mom or give her a call and talk to her on the phone. For those that have lost your mother, then I hope your day was spent remembering the lady she was and hopefully the strength and support she provided to you and your family in your home. I'd like to provide a little recognition to two wonderful moms in my own life. The first is my own mom and then there's my wife, the wonderful mother of our two children. They both have done some amazing things for their families and myself over the years. We should really honor our moms much more than on Mother's Day, and they deserve so much more from us than just a card, some flowers and a box of chocolates perhaps.
I'm writing this post for a few different reasons. My primary reason is that these two women in my life deserve some amazing credit and accolades for everything they've done. The other reason is that I'm participating in this program from Northwestern Mutual where they're trying to get people to talk about and honor their own "heroic" moms. The goal is to share those pictures of your mom and honor them on social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and using the hashtag #MyHeroMom. The great news about this effort is that it's not just some "selfie" that's going to be floating around the Internet with a picture of you and your wonderful mom, but for every image upload, share, tweet and retweet of content with that hashtag, Northwestern Mutual  Foundation is donating $5 to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), up to the max of $50,000 to help fund childhood cancer research.
My Hero Mom
First, I've got to thank my own Mom. If it weren't for her, well, I wouldn't be here. That alone should be enough for celebration right? My mom has been a tremendous influence in my life. She has been a working mom during the entire time of my childhood and never failed to be there when needed and did everything she could to make she we had everything we needed as well. She's been an incredible example of hard working and determined and always pushed my brothers and I to excel in everything we did. Although I was much younger back then I remember when we had a scare of her having cancer. I wasn't quite old enough to understand all the ramifications of the situation at hand, but I saw my mom push through and persevere through surgery and was the model of strength and determination to win that battle and continue to be here for her family. Thanks Mom!
My Hero Wife
My second #MyHeroMom is my own wife. She has been a tremendous support for the 15 years we've been married, but especially so over the last couple of months as we go through a significant change in our life together. Our family is in essence homeless and unemployed currently. While I've been pursuing full-time work in Nashville, TN, she's been back in Indianapolis living with my parents and fulfilling the role of virtual single mom in my absence. She has been amazing through all of this time. I've never felt more support and encouragement from my wife during this time and she continues to do an amazing job of raising and homeschooling our two children in our separation from each other during this time. She truly has been doing a heroic effort to maintain some sense of normalcy in our family while nothing is even close to normal right now. For that I owe her everything! Kim, you are amazing and I don't deserve you!
Take a moment now and keep the accolades flowing for that special mom in your life too! Don't let them just feel special on Mother's Day, help them understand and feel how important they are in your life by telling them again today and tomorrow. Share a picture your own #MyHeroMom to your favorite social network and sing her praises to the world! If your favorite network is Facebook, you can use the #MyHeroMom Facebook App to share you own photo.
