An Ode to Some of Bolingbrook’s Most Outstanding Mothers

Kim Stevens by son Phillip Stevens

“It’s really hard to just come up with one thing that my mom does that makes her special. Ever since my sister and I were little, she’s always put us first. We know that our happiness is important to her because she shows us in a thousand little ways every day. If there was just one story I had to pick to describe the type of person my mom is, it would be about something she did recently. My mom won tickets to a pro basketball game a couple months ago when the Bulls played the Lakers. My mom is a big basketball fan, but she gave the tickets to me and my dad because she wanted us to have time together. That’s not the first time she’s put us first. I guess I just want her to know that we all might not say it all the time but we appreciate everything she does, and the person she is. For me, it’s just one of the reasons I love my mom!”  

Dawn Gasteo by daughter Julia Gasteo

“My mom is hilarious! Even though I’m grown, we still do things together because I enjoy being around her. She has such an outgoing personality that everyone enjoys being around her. She’s always been there for me. When I was in girl scouts she was one of the troop moms and was responsible for watching us when we went to Camp Pocono. She was so serious about watching us and making sure we were safe. You know like the big bad mom who was going to protect us if anything happened while we were out in the woods. Where there was this day that we’d finished eating she was cleaning up after us. I guess someone had trapped a raccoon in the dumpster and hadn’t told her. My mom was all being serious and had her arms full of trash when she opened the lid to the dumpster.  The raccoon jumped up and my mom screamed, dropped everything and ran. We all starting laughing so hard we were falling on the ground!”

Carolyn Smith by identical twin sons Malcom and Marcus Smith

“My mom is the best example of how to do the things you want without losing focus on the things you need to do. We are all really very active, we love sports! Our older sister played basketball and was the varsity goalie at her senior year. My brother and I played basketball in middle school and we play soccer and volleyball and band. My mom supports everything we want to do as long as we have our grades right first," Malcolm says.

Marcus adds: “She works from home and when she works, she’s like in a zone. She got an award from her company for being the most productive person who works from home. We see her doing this and even when she’s busy with her own stuff, she still makes time to support us. She’s the person who will pick up and drop off everybody and she stays to watch us play. She’s a person everybody can count on to do what she says all the time. She is always showing us what type of people we need to be.”

Joan Coduto by daughter Annette Damron

“In every way, my mom was the person I aspired to be. When I was growing up, she was always the 'Hostess with the Mostest.' Her whole focus was on making sure other people were happy. When she put together a party or hosted an event, it was perfect. She made sure that there was enough for everyone to eat, and the presentation was perfect. I know it’s where I get it. There is something infectious about a person that like to make others happy. I see how it works out in my life. I think a lot of the things I do were unconsciously formed many years ago from watching her.”