Mother's Day Story Contest Winners - 2025

The first ten entries will receive a signed copy of Tom's 

 I Love Crab Cakes: 50 Recipes for an American Classic

Neil S - The best Mother’s Day memories I have with my mum was when the year after her mum, my Nana passed. She wasn't from money at all, but left us a few thousand dollars, but only with the promise of ONLY using it to do something fun together that we would never pay for ourselves. We decided that Mother’s Day to get breakfast, go skydiving in Snohomish, followed by antiquing & an pretty lavish dinner. Followed up with a movie at home & watching the skydiving videos. I’ll never forget it & neither will she. Thanks for bringing up Mother’s Day memories. I think I’ll text her now.

Connie E - We have never made a fancy Mother’s Day Dinner for Mom.  We usually have a big Mother’s Day open house, so everyone brings either an appetizer or desert.   We have a large family (cousins, nieces, nephews) so sitting down to dinner is impossible.  My sister lives on the water in Bow-Edison and brings me crab during the summer.  I have never made crab cakes - but love them.  Would love to have a recipe book to try and make them.  May not be in time for Mother’s Day, but we have an open house for Father’s Day too.  FYI:  My mom turned 95 in February, and my dad will be 96 in July.  

Catherine M - My mom passed away at 94 in 2023, but for as long as I can remember we always had homemade German chocolate cake for her birthday/Mother’s Day.  Her birthday was May 10th which unfortunately for mom usually meant combining her birthday and Mother’s Day into one event.  My dad was a wonderful cook, and every year baked her a homemade German chocolate cake using the recipe from the Baker’s chocolate bar.  When he passed away I continued the tradition!  We even had it for her funeral reception.  At our house growing up we had to turn the broiler on the stove to preheat the oven, and once my dad left the broiler on instead of turning it to “bake”, and the cake was not ruined, but not quite the same.  My dad always remembered that  - but it was still a really great cake!

Thanks for letting me tell our story.  My mom was really a lovely lady!

Kristy K (on the NPR website in 2021) - The song, "Music, Music, Music" (sung by Teresa Brewer) was released in late 1949 and topped the charts in 1950 when my mom, Margaret, was 19 turning 20. During the last few years of her life, she and I listened to it as we walked, visited or just sat and enjoyed the view at her nursing home. She often recalled and laughed at her incredulity as a young woman at the racy parts ("I'd do anything for you, anything you'd want me to...") of which she couldn't believe would be lyrics in a song, let alone a top hit. She'd also describe the long ago scene when she and her contemporaries were at the local Soda Fountain on a Saturday night. She told of being dressed up with her girlfriends and wishing to dance a bit with the handsome Jimmy Messner (my dad). They'd all be hopeful that someone would have another nickel to put in the nickelodeon (jukebox) so they could keep dancing, which is the main theme (and chorus) of the song. Being that a seat at the movies was 11 cents, a 5 cent song was appreciated by the whole crowd. This song encapsulated her youth in a unique way that allowed her to remember that brief period of her life throughout her remaining 70 years.

In her later years my mom developed dementia. Some days were harder than others, and on the hard days when nothing clicked, I could see she was still there with help from this song. On days when she didn't recognize anyone and my conversation attempts fell flat, we were able to still connect through this song. Once I played, "Music, Music, Music", she would perk up as she sang along, tapping her leg to the beat. She and I were born with the worst singing voices ever heard and she taught me from a young age to basically lip-sync in public in order to hide it as she herself did. However with dementia, she fortunately forgot what bad voices we had and so we were both free to sing out loud--and loudly at that--along with Teresa Brewer during my twice weekly visits to her nursing home. Once she tired of it and asked me, "Do you think they'll ever change this song?" 

For me, the song was a window to her former life that I could only imagine. It unlocked the young Margaret I never knew who had a crush on the handsome Jimmy Messner. 

As Covid took hold of Margaret and her condition deteriorated, we had a few FaceTime calls with her since she was in isolation. Eventually, she responded to little of what my family and I said which was heartbreaking. During one of the last calls my daughter, who has a beautiful singing voice, sang this song to her a cappella. For a brief moment, Margaret lit up and smiled. I could see she was still there.

Bruce D - The morning sun filtered through the kitchen window as my sisters and I bustled around, determined to create the perfect Mother's Day breakfast. The scent of sizzling bacon and fluffy scrambled eggs filled the air, but my true masterpiece was in the oven—blueberry muffins infused with a splash of apple sauce and a hint of cinnamon. I carefully measured and mixed, knowing that this extra touch would make them uniquely mine. As the timer dinged, I pulled out the golden-brown beauties, their warm, comforting aroma filling the air. We plated everything with love, carrying it to Mom’s room with giggles and whispered excitement. Her smile, as she took the first bite of my special muffins, was worth every second of effort—a perfect start to a day filled with love and gratitude.

Lynn G - My mom has unfortunately been gone for several years now so I will share a story about one of my Mother’s Day. During the pandemic, one of our daughters moved back from college with us and for Mother’s Day, she and my husband took me and our dog out to hike near the old Black Diamond mine and it was just a nice leisurely day in the sun with most of my family. It was a wonderful day because we got to be together outside and just enjoy each other’s company.   Afterwards we headed home to barbecue and hang out.

Meka S - My favorite tradition with my mom for Mother’s Day is going family shopping during the day (usually at goodwill). We would go visit my grandma before she passed. We finish the day with her favorite dinner - a table full of food at The Crab pot.

I love most about my mom, everything about her soul! She loved me through rebellion and life reset. She is my biggest cheerleader and my best friend. She’s small with strong tight hugs! I’m so glad that she was picked to be my mom through life triumphs and heartbreaks, rain and sunshine! No one’s mom is better than mine!

Nensi H - I married into a (What I thought) a wealthy Hungarian family that had it all.

I was invited to their Christmas celebration not knowing what to buy as presents. I thought well everyone has to eat so I made veiner schnitzel, a traditional meal in central European cuisine. 

I gave it to my future mother-in-law and her eyes grow big and she took the large platter and put it away for herself, she told me to make it a tradition. Therefore, every Christmas and Mother’s Day I would make her a large platter of veiner Schnitzel.
At her celebration of life there were 6 of us making the schnitzel for a large number of people.

Lori G -  One Mother’s Day when I was about 12, I wanted to make her my favorite buttermilk coffee cake which was an old recipe written on a 3 x 5 Card. Buttermilk wasn’t something that we normally had in the refrigerator so snuck off to the grocery store and use my allowance to purchase the buttermilk.

 The coffee cake was very most it had swirls of cinnamon & sugar. I used a knife and would go from one end of the pan to the other to make the swirls. Brown sugar, nuts and butter for special crumble topping. 

She loved it and cried, she said Lori you are so thankful. I love you so much! This is truly delicious.

 Susan H - My mother is gone now but I remember some of our traditions surrounding Mother's Day. I grew up in central Pennsylvania where we shopped at Amish greenhouses especially around Mother's Day. Every year I would get my mother a hanging fuchsia for her garden but when I moved away from home it became more difficult. I had been taking stained glass classes and I decided to make her a fuchsia glass piece for her kitchen window. She enjoyed that for many years. When she moved to Issaquah to be closer to us and her grandchild, she brought it with her and hung it proudly in her front window. After she passed away it's moved to my greenhouse window. Good bittersweet memories!