We hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day and were able to connect with your family members.

We are happy to announce the winner of our Mother's Day contest. Here is the winning essay, written by Sheri Fisher, who will receive a spring bouquet to enjoy, compliments of NourishingRelationships.blogspot.com and HerMentorCenter.com.

"My mother has been gone now for twelve years, but the most significant thing I think she taught me was to be independent.

When I was growing up she always worked at an outside job. Therefore, I was left on my own a lot to fend for myself, whether it was making my own lunch, or just entertaining myself. As a child I always resented the fact that she was never around so that we could develop a relationship and talk.

As I got older and married, had a family, divorced and remarried, moved to another city all by myself to develop a new life, remarried again, one day I had a light bulb moment! I stopped those old tapes in my head about how I was left on my own so much as a child, how my mother was never there after school with the homemade cookies and milk. I realized the fact that because she did teach me to have such independence, I was able to carry on in my life the way many women of my generation could not have done, such as moving to a new city all by myself without knowing anyone and building a whole new life, traveling to Europe alone and having a new adventure and loving it. Things like that were only possible because I was, and still am, so independent.

I wish my mother was here today so I could tell her how much she actually did for me and to thank her and tell her how much I loved her and can now appreciate what she did for me."

Sherri responded to our award by writing: "Thank you so much for this honor. I am very excited about winning the essay and the bouquet. Thank you again and I wish all the mothers in the world a very Happy Mother's Day."

Stay tuned in for more information about our upcoming Father's Day contest. You'll have a chance to honor your Dad and the lessons you have learned from that important man in your life. We'll announce the winner in our free newsletter, Stepping Stones, and here on the blog next month, where we'll publish her essay. And our champion will again receive flowers from us. So send us your reminiscences about your Dad and what he taught you. Email us at Mentors@HerMentorCenter.com.