By MIKAYLA & Annette ORTEGA
For our May issue, we interviewed several mothers from our community and asked them what it meant to be a mother. We also asked what motherly advice they would give to our readers. Below are their answers:

Maxine Ortega, Questa, NM

Maxine is mother to Rachel Aragon, Annette Rael, and Anthony Ortega. She has seven grandchildren Briana, Deanna, Leanna, Isabelle, Natalie, Dedrick, and Joshua. She also has four great-grandchildren Kiara, Daniel, Kayliana and Kelan.

What does it mean to be a mother?
First, it is a blessing from God to be a mother. Second, being a mother means having an unconditional love for your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. When you’re raising your children, you’re their first teacher. You are responsible for teaching them the value of life, about God, about responsibility. I found that when I was a mother, time was limited because we were so busy. I was working, keeping a household together, mothers are responsible for a lot. As a grandmother, you spoil them and enjoy them. I found I was able to take more time to really enjoy my grandkids. I am helping my granddaughter with her youngest and, now, I have a 2-year-old boss, Kelan!

What motherly advice would you give to our readers?
For those who do not have their mothers, I will say I was raised by my grandmother, and I used that experience to give my children everything I had. So if you don’t have a mother, give everything you wish you had from your mother to your children. If you don’t have kids, you can also give to your nieces or nephews or cousins.

My other advice would be to visit your family. We’re in a day and age where everyone is so focused on their cell phones and you don’t realize you’re missing out on human interactions and conversations. I used to spend my Sundays visiting family, but they’ve since passed and Sundays are hard for me because I was used to being busy. Visiting with family just doesn’t happen anymore like it used to in the old days. It’s just important to talk to your family and make connections with them. You don’t know how long we have here and you could be missing valuable time to make memories and have strong bonds with people you love.

I also want to say it’s very important to trust in God and build your relationship with God. God is everything, beginning and end, so having a strong faith and bond with him is so important in life.

Loveida Cisneros, Cerro, NM

Loveida is mother to Leroy Cisneros. She has lovingly taken on the role of grandmother to her niece Julie’s twin boys, Marcus and Juan Gonzalez. She is also a grandma to the late Jennifer Vigil’s daughters, Aalyiah and Jordyn.

What does it mean to be a mother?

It has been a wonderful experience. There have been good times and bad times but the good outnumber the bad. Despite any circumstances you will face, you always give your children your love. That’s very important, to ensure they always know how much you love them.
What motherly advice would you give to our readers?

As children grow up, you have to be firm, they need to know you’re the parent and respect you, but it’s also important to ensure they know why. It’s done out of love for them. It’s very important to give them discipline as they are growing up. It’s not easy, especially if you’re a young or single parent but you have to always be firm. There will be hard times, like in other things we go through in our lives but the good times you have will always make being a mother one of the best things you can do in your life.

Vicki Cisneros, Questa, NM

Vicki is mother to Susan, Magdalena, and Richard. She is grandmother to Robbie JR, JC, Kimberly, Sabrina, John John, Juliette, Matthew, Elijah. She is a great-grandmother to Eviana and Tuff.
What does it mean to be a mother?

The most joyful thing to me is to be a mother. Your children will fill your whole life with so much happiness. Being a mom makes you a better person.

What motherly advice would you give to our readers?
It’s not always going to be easy. There will be good days and bad days, ups and downs but as long as you show your loved ones how much you love them and support them, you will always have a strong bond. Always remember you’re stronger than you believe and can deal with many things in life– be strong. Always remember, a mother’s love is forever.

Jane Weber, Red River, NM

What does it mean to you to be a mother?
My grandmother and mother died before I had children so I didn’t have the role models to help me learn about being a mom. I was so wrapped up in working, which was becoming more prevalent in the 70s and 80s, that I missed a lot of the ‘growing up’ special times and activities that bond children with their mothers. It wasn’t until a classroom volunteer mother mentioned to me, in the grocery checkout line, that my daughter had expressed to her how much she wished I could participate in her school activities, that I realized how important it was to be present to my children. Shortly afterwards I stopped working and turned to Jesus’ mother, Mary, to guide me to be a better mother. So being a mom, to me, means being present to your children.

What motherly advice would you give to our readers?

As a mother and grandmother, I’ve learned that to build or strengthen a relationship with someone – whether that’s God, a spouse, children, family members, friends, etc., etc., – requires giving my full attention to them. My sisters and I recently recalled when we were watching TV growing up with a load of clothes from the dryer on the table in front of us, our dad would pass by with the comment, “don’t just sit there, fold.” That’s when I first started multitasking and it overflowed to when I’m talking on the phone or even having an in-person conversation. Getting to the finish line each day may be great, but I’m realizing more and more that multitasking, allowing distractions and not giving my full attention keeps me from being fully present to others when they want to share a special moment or are hurting or just want to talk. I’m telegraphing that they are not worthy of my time; and, although that’s not my intent, it’s what’s happening. So, my motherly advice is to allow yourself to be fully present to others in the simple every-day moments that are so worth experiencing.