During this Mother’s Day Appreciation Edition, I’d like to shine the spotlight back on one of your very own: Patricia McClellan.
She’s known by many names, but 40-some-odd years ago, I met her simply as Pat.
She was the mother of two rambunctious girls, desperately searching for a summer babysitter willing to work for peanuts and belly laughs. I was that stooge.
Together, we made an amazing team. I taught the girls how to fry French fries without burning down the house and how to drive my mom’s minivan, despite the fact that none of us were even close to 15.
Patricia taught me how to laugh through sorrow and push through the life-shattering days of a typical 14-year-old life.
Together, we survived a few life-shaping years — for both of us — and maintained a friendship that trickled right over into my adulthood.
It has molded, shifted, and taken different shapes through the years, but one thing has remained constant: Patricia has always been there.
Whether it was singing show tunes in bed, making biscuits in our good jewelry, or offering bail money when one of us accused the other of shoplifting — loudly, in public — Patricia has been steady, hilarious, loyal, and unforgettable.
This Mother’s Day, I celebrate her not just for the mother she was to her own girls, but for the way she mothered, mentored, loved, laughed, and showed up for me.
Patricia, you are a treasure. And I am forever grateful that 14-year-old me got lucky enough to be your stooge.
Tanya Bass
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