There are wonderful mothers in most families,,,mine included.  These are the women who help lay the groundwork for the way you were raised.   Much of what you and your grandchildren are taught to respect and hold dear, comes from the mothers who have moved on to another place.  I can joyfully say these women who have physically left this earth are in heaven and waiting for me to join them there.  How blessed I am to come from such a legacy.  Here then is a gathering of the mothers who helped shape me.

My mother’s mother…Annie Mariah Tew Merritt….when I was just a baby…

Here she is a few years before she passed away…Granny Merritt…

Here is the sweet mother of my Daddy…  Ester Lillian Hallman Townsend…..Granny T…

And this is a picture of Don’s Daddy’s mother…she passed early in our marriage…Ola Owens…

Sitting with my young boys is my mother in law and Don’s mother Sarah Elizabeth Meadows Owens…..

Elizabeth Owens…she was a kind and gentle soul who loved her Lord and her family greatly…..

Here is my mother a day after I was born…Elosise Merritt Townsend….

With me, ready for church….

With her grandchildren, Ian,Lori, Alex, Adam, Tara, who learned and loved so much from her…

With Joy and I on one of our fun trips together…

My beautiful mother, whom I miss every day….

Joy and I holding our precious grandsons….Levi Hampton Owens, and John Thomas Bush

My Sister, with her children…Joy Annette Townsend McKibben with Lori and Tara

Me, with my children…Tonja Lynn Townsend Owens…with Alex, Ian, Adam…

And the next generation….Tara Suzanne McKibben Bush with John Thomas

Suzanne Michelle Horne Owens with Levi…

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!