Happy Mother’s Day, mom

There’s a quote from the 1998 movie “Stepmom” that has stuck with me throughout the years as pretty much the perfect quote about moms.

Actress Julia Roberts’ character, Isabel, is talking to Jackie, played by actress Susan Sarandon, in a restaurant. Isabel is going to marry Jackie’s ex-husband, Luke, and thus be a stepmom to Luke’s and Jackie’s two young children, Ben and Anna.

Luke and Jackie had an amicable divorce and are on friendly terms, but Isabel is not viewed in the best of lights by Jackie, and the two have verbal tussles and tension throughout the first part of the movie.

In the restaurant scene, the two are talking after Isabel has learned that Jackie received a terminal cancer diagnosis. Isabel admits she never wanted to be a mom, but she’s going to try her best, even though she feels she will never be good enough because she will always be compared to Jackie.

Jackie says Isabel is “hip and fresh” compared to her, believing that will make the kids take to Isabel more.

That’s when Isabel tells Jackie that she is “Mother Earth, incarnate” to Ben and Anna.

“You know every story, every wound, every memory. Their whole life’s happiness is wrapped up in you … every single second,” Isabel continues.

That’s how my sisters and I view our mom, who is the center of our universe since we were born. The calm in life’s myriad storms.

She has been there through all the ups and downs, has been our biggest cheerleader in the good times and toughest defender when our backs have been against the wall, and has assured us when we’ve felt like everything was falling apart that everything would be OK.

We marveled at how Mom kept it together after she became a full-time caregiver for my dad in his later years due to multiple health issues. Her focus and devotion to his care meant that some of her doctor appointments fell to the wayside, and four months after we lost him — and amid my transition to becoming her full-time caregiver — we learned she had stage IIIB colon cancer at the age of 79.

It was such a scary time, not knowing what the future held for her. But she handled all the doctor appointments and surgeries that followed with such grace despite the difficulties, not realizing that she was once again setting an example for me on how to navigate through life in the middle of incredibly challenging adversities.

The role reversals have been a bit tricky, I admit, and she has no trouble reminding me sometimes that she is the mom in this relationship. But we’ve made it work, with me letting her know from time to time that the care I’m giving her is in large part thanks to the life lessons she taught my sisters and me, including when she was caring for my dad, which turned out to be training lessons for me for when I would step into the caregiver role at a later point.

No matter who you talk to, that person will invariably tell you that their mom is the best mom in the world. But I can confidently say that mine truly is, something anyone can see merely by walking into a room and seeing her eyes light up when my sisters and I are together with her. That has always been the time when she’s happiest.

I love you so much, Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. Thank you for all that you do and for who you are, and for the example you set for all of us.

North Carolina native Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah and is a media analyst and regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.