Mother’s Day Memories

Shelley Hanson

WHEELING - From breakfast in bed to homemade cards and even a chef-inspired vacation, local moms say their children have shown them love on Mother's Day in a variety of ways.

Libbi Gramby, owner of Table 304 in Wheeling, said one year her daughters, Devon and Emily Sleeth, gave her a very unexpected present.

"They surprised me with a trip to Chicago," she said.

Gramby said the trip was themed around going to restaurants owned by her favorite chef, Stephanie Izard, in that city.

"We ate our way through Chicago. It was wonderful," she said.

Moundsville resident Mia Crow was visiting the Centre Market with her 3-year-old daughter Delilah on Friday. She said her favorite present from her daughter was one she made at daycare this year. It was paper, hand-shaped flowers in a pot.

"She told me that I could have it, that it was for her but that she would share it with me," Crow said with a laugh.

Crow noted her favorite present from her 6-year-old son Nemo was a zinnia plant she received last year. It is still growing.

Wheeling resident Betsy Helmick, owner of the Upper Market eatery, was busy Friday making chocolate candies to sell as Mother's Day presents at her shop. She said her most memorable Mother's Day gift was given to her by her daughter, Lily, when she was 8 years old.

"My daughter has autism. She's 19 now, but when she was 8 she did a Mother's Day card at school. It was the first time she wrote 'mommy'. It wasn't perfect or straight, but it was the most fantastic thing I had ever been given," Helmick said.

She noted seeing her daughter's handwriting was especially touching because of how her life began.

"When she was 14 months old the doctor told us she would never walk or crawl," Helmick said, adding her daughter can now read, write and walk.

Helmick also owns Zeb's Barky Bites with her husband Steve and 14-year-old son Zeb, who started the business when he was 9 years old.

Amy Cordy, owner of VC Wares in the Centre Market area, was tending to her shop on a busy Friday in the market area. She said when her children Macy and Melissa were young she enjoyed receiving handmade cards from them. But one of the most memorable gifts came from daughter Melissa who was a teenager at the time.

"She gave me a bag of chips," Cordy said. "They were cheddar sour cream - my favorite."

Cordy noted shops in the Centre Market area are holding a Sisterhood Saturday, May 7, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. for moms, non-moms and those who have lost their moms. She said it is a day to shop and relax as Mother's Day can be a stressful time for some women.

Denise Wycherly, owner of Attic Pickers in the Centre Market area, also was busy tending to customers at her antique shop on Friday. She said for many years her children, Shawn and Travis, made her breakfast in bed every Mother's Day. Sometimes they would also give her jewelry.

"They would also buy those adjustable rings with the fake diamonds and pink stones," Wycherley added.