Unless you were under a rock, you undoubtedly know that yesterday was Mother’s Day. I did my part by celebrating the day with my wife and mother-in-law, handling the grill duties, and avoiding the golf course as my small way of honoring two important moms in my life.
This year’s Mother’s Day was particularly important and, perhaps, overdue given the toll that the pandemic has taken on families, kids, and the already challenging task moms have in juggling all that goes on in hectic households. Over the past year, we have all had glimpses of children crawling on moms’ laps or poking their heads in doorways during video meetings, providing just a tiny window into the special challenges parents faced this year and the strong and determined women in our community who rose to the occasion to make it all work, as they always seem to do.
Here at the Y, the vast majority of our workforce (75% of which is made up of women) have had to both manage the special demands of family life while also providing direct service to other parents by caring for the children of essential workers; by supporting students’ virtual learning; by operating our preschools and Y family centers and much, much more. Y associates have been a corps of dedicated and talented caregivers and, symbolically speaking, “mothers” to an entire community.
Juggling at-home learning, soothing fears, caring for others, keeping everyone happy and safe, all while also working and contributing to the economic well-being of the family, is the work of real-life superheroes who deserve the respect and admiration of anyone and everyone lucky enough to be in their orbits.
So, today, we salute all of the moms out there and all of the Y associates who are moms and/or perform in the role of mothers for our community! I am in awe and incredibly appreciative!
All the best,
John
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland