The Atascosita Observer
By Melanie Feuk
Over 200 people sat in The Overlook’s event hall as community leaders told heartfelt accounts of their mothers’ impact on their lives and the lives of others.
For the fifth year in a row, the community gathered for the Mothers Are Jewels Luncheon at The Overlook in Atascocita Friday, April 29 to honor their mothers while raising money to benefit mothers and families in need through FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center; a local nonprofit offering assistance for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
“The work you do at FamilyTime is one that unfortunately will always be needed, but thank you all so much for the work you do for everybody in this community,” Kevin Kilgore, owner of The Overlook and the event’s master of ceremonies, said. “This kind of support is what the Lake Houston area is all about. We’re so proud to have all of you here.”
According to Judy Cox, executive director of FamilyTime, in 2015, the FamilyTime shelter housed 725 women, men and children. FamilyTime therapists conducted over 6,000 counseling sessions and the FamilyTime help line answered 18,168 calls; services FamilyTime would not have been able to provide without the community’s support.
The event’s first guest speaker, District 4 Senator Brandon Creighton, thanked his mother for her support throughout the years.
“We didn’t have tremendous wealth when I was growing up, but I was rich in love and moral support and I can tell you the value of that exceeds the dollar any day,” Creighton said. “That is a state of mind, and it is all an attitude and it is what a rough day doesn’t really make you feel like conveying to anyone, but I have that and now I try to give that to as many as I possibly can to pay it forward.”
Chris Parker, marketing consultant for the Tribune Newspapers, was the second guest speaker. She commended her mother’s courage through adversity.
“My mother is an angel and today she is a jewel, too,” Parker said. “If there was one word I would use to describe my mom, it’s ‘lady.’ My mother is a lady. She is dignified.”
Parker spoke of her mother’s experience caring for her father while he was in hospice after a six year battle with cancer. Later, Parker’s mother battled her own cancer as well and survived.
“The true test of character is not during the good times,” Parker said. “It’s the times when we’re in trial when you show your true character. There’s a poem – I think everyone here knows it: ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, I am my mother after all.’ The world would be a better place if that indeed were the case. My mom is amazing.”
Observer Newspaper and Media Group publisher and advertising director Corey Turner delivered the third speech, honoring his mother for instilling him with the strength of character that got him to where he is today.
“From my mother, I learned that we can’t control how people treat us, we can’t control the situation we’re in, but we can always control how we treat others and I try to take that with me,” Turner said. “My mom is a person who is in tune with herself and she holds onto the values she believes in.
“For me, she has served as an anchor to never stray too far from home. The values I’ve learned from her have helped me fight through the daily struggles and challenges in life. I just want my mom to know: everything I do, you served as my source of motivation, my strength.”
After the guest speakers, Cox announced FamilyTime’s first box truck which will allow them to deliver large items to the FamilyTime thrift stores, shelters and clients. She also invited the community to celebrate FamilyTime’s 20th anniversary at their open house Wednesday, July 27 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the FamilyTime counseling office.
For more information about FamilyTime visit www.familytimeccc.org.