To Momar - From Willard

This is Willard.  I am hijacking Amy's blog since she never blogs anymore.  This is my Mother's Day tribute to my mother-in-law.  


Everybody in Danville, a bunch of folks in Louisiana, a couple of ladies in California, a few people in Tampa, a man in Montana, an awesome family in Normangee, Texas, and the whole Facebook world know Momar.  Some know how she came to be known as Momar, but now I'm going to tell everyone else.

There are very few people that I call by their given name.  I have a nickname for just about everybody.  Amy and I started dating in early 1986.  After I had been around a while, I started calling Charles by the name "Charlie". Not a huge difference and not very original, I know.  I didn't feel comfortable calling Momar by her given name - Suzanne - and Mrs. Randolph didn't sound right.  A couple of weeks before Christmas in 1986, we all went to the Christmas program at Neel Methodist Church.  After the program, Amy and I wanted to go to Dairy Queen.  Momar said no because it was a school night and she didn't want us to be out late.  I had been around long enough to be comfortable giving her a hard time, so I did.  I told her she was a big 'ol meanie, just like Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator.  From that day on, I have called her Momar.

I was the only person that called her this until Hunter was born.  While Amy was pregnant, Momar told everybody that she was going to be called Granny.  I would laugh and say, "Nope, you are Momar!".  She would say, "That baby will not call me that!".  After Hunter was born, I constantly drilled to him that her name was Momar.  Sure enough, one of his first words was "Momar".  The minute she heard that little angel say it, it was the sweetest name she had ever heard.  That was sometime in 1994, and today more people call her Momar than call her Suzanne.  She even got her car tag personalized to read "MOMAR".

In her defense, she has turned out to be a pretty good Momar.  I couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law, and as far as a grandmother, I think everyone knows how good she is at that.  I heard Brother Jack Baily say once, "I don't believe in reincarnation, but if I did, I would want to come back as one of Momar's grandkids". 

Happy Mother's Day, Momar!