Honoring mothers of today, yesterday

CLOVIS — Residents of Saint Anthony Healthcare and BeeHive Clovis remembered their favorite Mother’s Days past both as daughters and mothers themselves.

Lillye Toliver, resident at Saint Anthony’s, has two “beautiful daughters,” one of whom passed away.

“They always wanted to get mommy the prettiest present in the world;” said Toliver, “all I wanted was them.”

Thinking back on her time with her own mother, Toliver recalls her mom’s great cooking.

“My mother was a tiny little thing and the best cook in the world,” she said, “her chocolate pies, oh my! She was so huggable.”

Toliver was born in Oklahoma but traveled all over, she said. She has been in the Clovis area about 18 years with her daughter, Jen Cox. Toliver said her daughter and grandchild will spend Mother’s Day with her at Saint Anthony.

Betty Hicks, born and raised in Clovis, and her daughter Iantha Hicks share most mealtimes together at BeeHive in Clovis.

Betty Hicks says she got her daughter’s name from a neighbor she had had of the same name.

Iantha Hicks, a nurse in Clovis, doted on her mother all through their homemade pizza dinner as she fed her. She made sure her mom got extra onions on her salad because she loves them so much.

“I pick on her,” said Iantha Hicks, “that’s what I’m here for.”

She said there are no special Mother’s Day plans, just that Betty and Iantha Hicks spend the day together.

Doris Cameron, a resident of BeeHive in Clovis, shared a simple sentiment about her mom: “My mother was wonderful, she did so many things. She was always right there when you needed something. She was a real sweetheart, I sure miss her.”

Angelina McWilliams, also of BeeHive, reminisced about her “wonderful mother,” Blanche. McWilliams boasted of all the things she learned from her mother as a small child.

“When she was growing up,” said McWilliams, “she had a hard time, but she survived it all.” McWilliams said she learned a lot about perseverance from her mother.

She also loved speaking about her own two children who live in Amarillo. They will not have Mother’s Day together this year, said McWilliams, because her children are traveling out of the country.

“They visit me every weekend,” McWilliams said, “and they take me out.”

She said she always has good Mother’s Days and that her kids “were the best kids in Clovis.”