Best advice? Listen to Mom
Mothers usually have lots of advice for their children, from admonishing them to wear clean underwear (what if you’re in a wreck?) to not saying anything if they don’t have something nice to say.
Several residents of the River Valley & Ozark Edition coverage area answered this question: What’s the best advice your mother ever gave you?
University of Central Arkansas President Tom Courtway’s mother, Betty, lives in Conway.
He said her best advice, “I am paraphrasing” was, “Exercise ever y day ; be kind to and feed God’s creatures (especially the birds), and take a hike whenever you can.”
Felecia Turnbow, executive vice president of the Russellville Area Chamber of Commerce, said her mother died several years ago of colon cancer at age 44.
“She’s told me many, many things — obviously there are so many things that stick out in your mind,” Turnbow said.
“Be true to yourself; have faith in God, and no matter what obstacle you come up against, know that with your faith and God’s strength you can make it through. That’s what I try to tell my children as well.”
Turnbow’s children are son Altan, 9; and daughters Toria, 6, and Ava, 3.
The advice Maumelle Mayor Mike Watson’s mother, Ada Elsberry Watson of Maumelle, gave him may sound familiar: “You don’t have to do something just because everyone else is doing it — you can choose to do right,” he said.
“When I was younger, I didn’t always follow that advice, and it usually ended badly,” he said. “I try to follow that advice still to this day.”
Aaron Duvall, head boys basketball coach at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Morrilton, paused when asked the question.
His mother, Alma Duvall, also lives in Morrilton.
“I’m trying to think of what she would want me to say,” he said, laughing.
“Probably just to be yourself. She’s really encouraging of doing what makes you happy, so I’d have to say ‘ Do what makes you happy.’
“When I went into teaching and coaching, she said, ‘You know you’re not going to make millions, but if that’s what you love to do, that’s what you should do.’”
Vilonia Citizen of the Year Sandy Towles said the best advice her mother, Ethel Shockley, ever gave her started with Towles’ grandmother,
Verder Smith. “She passed it on to my sister and me,” Towles said.
“Pretty is as pretty does. It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside; it’s how you are on the inside, and it’s how you act that people look at.”
Thelma Moton of Conway, executive director of Choosing to Excel, said her mother, Ann ie Dooley, died in 1992 at age 83.
“The best advice my mother ever gave me is to learn to live in the present — she said to focus on the present,” Moton said.
“The one thing she told me I never, ever will forget, after I moved here, I was talking to her and quoting Scripture — and I was so proud of myself. I was telling her about Proverbs 3:5 and 6, ‘ In all ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths,’ and she said, ‘Mmm hmm. It’s one thing for him to direct it — it’s another thing for you to stay on it,’” Moton recalled, laughing.
Summar Roachell, 17, a standout Conway golfer, was quick with a response about the best advice her mot he r has given her.
“She’s always telling me to look for the positives. Even if something bad happens, look for the positives.
“That’s been really big for me,” Summar said. “In golf, I might not play a good round, but I try to find the positives — it’s always a learning experience.”
Mayflower Superintendent John Gray ’s mother, Olive Gray, lives in May-flower.
“Do what’s right,” he said.
“She’s very general in nature — she’s more a guider. She wants to steer you in the right direction.”
He said his mother, who attends a different church than his family does, wants him to go to church with her today.
“I guess I have to do that, or I’ll get in trouble,” he added, laughing.
Here’s another piece of advice: Mind your mother, no matter how old you are.