The power of a mother's love is immeasurable; it knows no boundaries and is truly limitless.

I have once again confirmed this not because I am a mother myself, but because I had the honor of being in the presence of Time Warner Cable San Diego's 50 Best Moms and finding out what makes them worthy of having this title bestowed on them.

Humbled, and at times reaching for the tissues on the table to wipe some tears, we listened to excerpts from their children's essays selected by Time Warner Cable and a panel of 24 judges to be deserving of this cherished award.

Retired Juvenile Court Judge Maria Arroyo and Tiffany Lynch of Time Warner Cable's Community Relations

Among the judges this year were Maria Arroyo, retired Juvenile Court Judge, Marti Emerald, Councilmember for the City of San Diego, Jodi Kodesh reporter at NBC 7/39 and Lesa Heebner, Deputy Mayor of City of Solana Beach, and yours truly (see the 2010 list of judges here).

Essay judges Suzette Valle Best Mom 2006 and Jodi Kodesh NBC 7/30

Over 3,500 essays from San Diego County schools were submitted this year, and after reading my lot and listening to the chosen ones, I feel we are lucky to have some extremely dedicated mothers and active community-conscious citizens who are instilling the value of 'giving back' and 'paying it forward' to their kids; and sometimes to others beyond their own family.

Mrs. Shari Hume is one such mother. Her son was diagnosed with a rare life-threatening disease, Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JM), for which there is no known cure. She did not take his diagnosis sitting down; instead she helped raise over $2 million dollars towards the research, and hopefully, discovery of a cure for Parker Hume's illness.

Sally Grab Bidleman adopted Cricket Bidleman, a 5th grader, who wrote: 

"I am a blind eleven year old girl and I believe, with all my heart that my mother is the best in the whole of San Diego County. She has made many sacrifices, and she is an exemplary role model. She adopted my sister and me from China. For this, I will forever be grateful, because if my mom hadn’t adopted us, we may not have had the chance to get a good education. In fact, we may not have been able to get an education at all! My mom has made many sacrifices for me. She had already adopted my sister, and she found out from the agency that there was another child available for adoption. The agency said that I was blind from birth and that I was almost four years old. Mom immediately said yes. Most mothers would not have done what my mother has done for me."

Ashley Queja, a teenager, has been raising her younger sister Sydnee, who is now in middle school, since the age of 5 after their mother passed away.

Sometimes, when life seems to be squeezing a little too hard and I feel I'm about to choke, it will help me to breathe a little easier knowing others are gripped by even worse problems than my own and overcome them.  At times like these, I will re-read these stories of courage and adversity and use them as inspiration to deal with my own, comparatively insignificant problems, and forge ahead.

Time Warner Cable's 50 Best Moms winners, I again tip my hat to you and thank you for inspiring your children (and mine) to be the best they can be.

But, more importantly, for inspiring us mothers to be our children's role models no matter what.  

Student Essay Contest to Find
the 50 Best Moms in San Diego
*** Essays Accepted February 1 to March 5 ...   more »

Every mom is special, but some truly standout and deserve to be recognized for the sacrifices and dedication they've made for their children and their families. Time Warner Cable wants to know who they are. For the ninth straight year, Time Warner Cable is calling students in grades 4 through 12 to write essays of 150 to 500 words telling why their mom should be one of the best in San Diego.

In the past, essays have come in from San Diego kids with moms of all kinds – even a father and grandmother! Who knows what this year will bring? The essays will be judged by a panel of local journalists, politicians and teachers who will select the 50 Best Moms for 2010 based on the children’s explanation of why they believe their mom is the best. The writers of the three best essays will receive a new Sony VAIO laptop computer. There will be a winner from each school level: elementary, middle and high school. In addition, the winning students’ teachers will also each receive a $250 gift card for supplies for their classrooms.

The San Diego’s 50 Best Moms contest, presented by Time Warner Cable, will run from February 1 through March 5, 2010. Essay forms can be downloaded online at www.twcsd.com by clicking on the 50 Best Moms logo or you may go to one of the following locations:
•       All Time Warner Cable payment Centers
•       All Mission Federal Credit Union locations
•       All San Diego County Boys & Girls Club locations
•       All Ultra Star Cinemas in San Diego County

Each winning mom will be honored at a special luncheon on Saturday, May 8 where they will receive an award and gifts generously donated by sponsors throughout San Diego. For more information, visit www.twcsd.com and click on the Best Moms logo. Students and teachers can also call the Best Moms event hotline at (858) 805-6789.

"There's a reason 'MOM' turned upside down spells WOW" states Haven Nisly at the beginning of the essay entitling mom to be selected as one of Time Warner Cable San Diego's 50 Best Moms. Over 3,000 essays were submitted, but only fifty mothers were honored at this annual community event which has been inspiring elementary, middle and high school kids to reach deep in their hearts to find the words to accurately convey why their mothers are the best in the county.

All 50 Best Moms 2009

On May 9th, at the Hyatt in La Jolla, proud mothers and their families were treated to a solemn yet moving celebration honoring the many sacrifices a mother makes out of love for their children and the community they live in. Sam Bass, of KYXY radio station, and Tiffany Lynch, Time Warner Cable's Community Relations Director were co-MCs for the luncheon. There was no shortage of stories about courageous mothers spotlighted at the gathering; one mom is rasing six kids while holding a job, another hid her illness from her kids until she couldn't any longer, and one mother worked in rice fields while pregnant to feed her children. Mothers will sacrifice it all to give their kids the best life they possibly can.

Master of Ceremonies Sam Bass of KYXY 96.5

Time Warner Cable's Tiffany Lynch and Suzette Valle

A mother is "a rainbow, a dove, a rose," wrote thirteen year old Alanna DePinto about her mother who fought breast cancer twice while taking care of her Alzheimer's-stricken mother. Diane Bell highlighted this passage of the middle-schooler's essay for the 50 Best Moms article she wrote in Saturday's Union Tribune. I was fortunate to be the judge of this winning essay, and also had the privilege of meeting both daughter and mother at the special banquet.

Contest Winners Tricia and Alanna DePinto

Other judges in this years competition included KUSI's Kristen Cusato , Congresswoman Susan Davis, KGTV's Lauren Renynolds, Assemblymember Lori Saldana and Coronado Mayor Casey Tanaka. (Click on the Program to see a complete list of winners and judges)

I really look forward to this yearly contest because it shows how a mother's love and sacrifice knows no limits. And with so many unrealistic role models being hurled at kids today, this essay-writing competition reaffirms that moms, and parents, are still their own children's' best role models (though we moms sometimes think our kids are not paying attention to all that we do!).

For those who would like to watch the ceremony, a summary video will be posted on San Diego on Demand channel 144 under TWC Programming, and on the website, in the next week or so. Keep checking!

Finally, congratulations to all the deserving mothers, and thanks to Time Warner Cable for allowing me to once again humbly assist in selecting these outstanding mothers!

Being a mother is the highest calling in life. It requires us to give ourselves wholly to our children as we raise them to become great human beings – a task that lasts way beyond the years kids spend at home with their moms. But for some mothers, the nurturing sentiments involved in raising their own children spill over into helping others become better people too; participating in community, church groups, school or charitable organizations demonstrates these special mothers’ ability to take on more than the usual home life responsibilities, and in the process teach their offspring to give of themselves for the benefit of others too.

Time Warner Cable’s 50 Best Moms contest recognizes these special mothers each year, and what better way to find out what makes them stand-out moms, than in the words of their own children. San Diego County school children, from elementary to high school, are eligible to participate in this contest by sending in an essay describing why their mom should be chosen as one of San Diego’s 50 best.

I asked Tiffany Lynch, Community Relations Manager for TWC, to tell me more about the contest. “This is the eighth year of the San Diego’s 50 Best Moms essay contest. We recognize that moms and mother figures do so much to shape their children’s lives, and the essay contest is an opportunity for kids to tell their moms how much of a difference they've made. Many of the moms [in the contest] have faced adversity and the stories that are winners show how those moms shine in adversity”.

I also asked Lynch why choose 50 best moms and not 1 or 100.  “I’m not actually sure why we do 50 rather than 1 or 100, but it seems like a good number to celebrate (not too many, but not too few). Another thing to note is that all of the moms are our Best Moms, but we do choose 3 essays (one each at the elementary, middle and high school levels) that is the best essay. That student wins a Sony VAIO laptop and their teacher wins a $250 gift card for school supplies” she added.

Most of my blog readers know that in 2006, Time Warner Cable selected me as one of San Diego’s 50 Best Moms based on the essay written by my then-ten-year-old 5th grade daughter. As a past Best Mom and judge, I am honored to again join the many outstanding members of the judging panel to review essays for this year’s contest. As Tiffany noted, “Many elected officials love to be involved in the essay contest and celebratory luncheon on Mother’s Day weekend because it’s such a positive event. We have many politicians and members of the media that help us judge the essays.”  San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Diane Bell, KUSI’s Sandra Maas, and San Diego Council member Kevin Faulconer are among past contest-judges.

Contest winners will be personally contacted by a Time Warner Cable representative and given the good news. They will also receive and invitation to attend the splendid awards luncheon held at the La Jolla Hyatt Regency on Saturday, May 9^Th, where they’ll be awarded a keep-sake trophy and gift bag courtesy of this years sponsors: Mission Federal Credit Union, Sony Electronics, Soap Net, Ultra Star Cinemas and the San Diego Repertory Theater.

The contest is now closed, and we are in the process of reading and selecting the winning essays (tissue boxes at the ready!). I will be attending this year’s TWC 50 Best Moms Award’s luncheon, and am looking forward to hearing about the remarkable 50 Best Moms of 2009 who live among us and are making a difference in our fine city.

Wishing all entrants the best of luck!

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