Edith and Catherine - A Mother/Daughter Team!

Mother’s Day often means a barrage of ideas on how to make your mom feel special by buying her something or making her breakfast in bed. While a nice gift or breakfast is always welcomed, it’s also important to remember to spend time with our moms year round.

Edith and Catherine Bernard still celebrate Mother’s Day. First, Edith and her daughters attend a service at their church and then they all share a special Mother’s Day meal, but throughout the year, Edith and Catherine take time to foster their special mother-daughter bond.

Edith, a retired bank worker, started volunteering with Meals on Wheels over 22 years ago. At that time, she often spent the summers volunteering with one of her granddaughters. Today, she credits their incredibly close relationship with the time they spent together delivering meals.

Around 7 years ago, on a particularly snowy day, Catherine decided to help her mother deliver meals. At that moment, she decided once she retired from her job as an elementary music teacher, she would continue to volunteer with her mother every week.  They’ve been volunteering together for the past 5 years.

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 After each weeks’ delivery, Catherine and Edith have lunch together and catch up on the clients they see every week. Edith has been delivering in the same Mount Pleasant area for her entire 22 years as a volunteer. She’s delivered to countless clients, but some have had a real impact.

She specifically remembers a client named Bill whom she delivered to for years. Every week, they’d chat and catch up on the week’s news. Once Bill had to move into a residential care facility, Edith and her husband would visit Bill to ensure he always had company. After Bill passed away, his son sent Edith a letter thanking her for the difference she had made in his father’s life. Just a small conversation can be so impactful.

Both Catherine and Edith speak lovingly about the clients they get to know and the time they get to spend together every week. While they are both passionate about delivering meals, when asked what the best part of volunteering was, they both immediately mentioned the time they spend together. Mother’s Day is a great reminder that we should thank our moms for all the wonderful things they do and have done for us, but it’s also a chance to think about how we can keep that relationship blossoming year round. Spending time with your mom every week is a great start.