“She’s my best friend,” says Jonell Watson of Honesdale, talking about her mom, Ellen Dunn.

How special? “You can’t put that into words, can you?” Instant tears were in her eyes as she tried to find the words to describe how much she loves her mom. “The best. She’s the epitome of a mom,” she said. “We talk every day, if not several times a day.”  
Jonell and daughter Arianna were attending Tiny Tots class Friday at the Wayne County Public Library, taught by volunteer, Kimberley Protzman. Jonell says watching her mom with her two little girls, Arianna and Isabella, takes her right back to when she was little.

Jonell’s plans for Mother’s Day include attending church with her mom and picking out an “extra special” flower for her.

A Mother’s Day message for her mom? “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I love you,” Jonell said.

Ann Foster of Honesdale says she’s blessed with her mom, 91-year-old Wilma Gethins, as well as her mother-in-law, Alice Foster, “whom I love absolutely as dearly as my own mother,” she said.

“My mom is special because she has resilience ...I have learned from her the ability to somehow get through all of the obstacles and difficulties one would have if you live that long. She’s strong — very strong,” Ann said.

Ann and her late husband, Brian, have three daughters: Tracey, Alison, and Elizabeth. “I’m very blessed, knowing that I have three individuals who love me as much as I love them. So it’s times three for me,” she said.

Kim O’Brien of Beach Lake is expecting baby number three in June. She laughs as she talks about her son, four-and-a-half year-old William, who talks to her belly. “He’s very excited,” she says, telling the baby all the things he’s going to teach him. Daughter Madison, who turns three in June, can’t wait for her new sibling, either. The baby’s due four days before her birthday. “It’s the best gift of all, it truly is, to be a mom,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to watching my children grow together. And hoping that they can be as close as my brothers, sisters and I. My mom did that, made us all close,” she said of her mom, Patrina. Growing up, their family home was filled with love. “Lots of hugs and kisses,” Kim said.

“I love being a mom,” says Kimberley Protzman. “Listening to your kids and spending time with them,” is  the best part of being a mom, she says. She’s proud of her two children, 10-year-old Tristan and seven-year-old Lora, watching them grow and catching glimpses of life lessons she’s instilled.

Kimberley laughs as she talks of the love notes lining the inside of her cupboard doors at home.  When Lora was in first grade, she wrote her mom a note, doing her best to write, “You’re the best.” It came out as, “You’re the beastest.” Kimberley says she won’t part with the note, something she intends to have on hand when Lora graduates.

“Everyday is Mother’s Day,” she said.