Brenda Gethers
Westside Gazette’s ‘World’s Greatest Mom’
Even though many of us consider our mothers to be the world’s greatest, Ms. Linda Chislom and Ms. Brenda Gethers are the Westside Gazette’s “Greatest Mom in the World 2014” second and third place winners, respectively. Below is an essay from Pharoh R. Jemison, Linda Chislom’s son.
First of all, thanks to Bobby R. Henry, Sr., and the Westside Gazette family for the amazing opportunity to expose my only beloved mother. My mother’s name is Linda Chislom and she is the “Greatest Mom in the World”. Although she’s in good company.
This story starts on the Southside of Chicago, in which my mother gave birth to a hand-some boy named Pharoh R. Jemison on July 9, 1978. I recall bike riding with my mother in my early years. She would strap me on the back and we would ride throughout the Chicago streets. My father has a successful business and my mother was nurturing her only child. Then crack cocaine landed in our communities and our house-hold. My mother was swept away with the flood of addiction.
From 1986 until 2003, my mother lived a life apart from me. During this time, I would’ve gladly written an essay explaining what a bad mother I had.
In 1980, my mother was sentenced to five years in the Florida Department of Corrections. Imagine her perception of life at the time. Her life was in shambles and her only child was ashamed of her.
She gave her life to Jesus Christ and he molded her into a Godly mother. She was trans-formed from the inside out. She desired for God to teach her how to become the “Greatest Mom in the World.
She was released from prison in 2003 and went on to accomplish many things by the grace of God. She became an author, a minister and started her own business.
By 2006 I was living recklessly in Chicago and she opened her arms and home in which I accepted.
Since my arrival, she has continued to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with me. She’s constantly praying and inter-ceding on my behalf. Not to mention, her demonstrating the love of Christ through her life-style.
In 2007, she assisted me in moving my 79-year-old father to South Florida from Chicago. In 2008, I was sent to the Department of Corrections to serve a prison sentence. It was my mother (while married) who took care of my father from 2008 until his demise in 2010. On my behalf, she cared for him every day. Yes, her love for me moved her to support the one I loved.
In closing, great is being beyond average; might, intense. My mother wants the best for me, therefore she directed me to the one who can secure me the best – Jesus Christ. It’s a good thing for a mother to put her child in the best position for success in this lifetime.
It’s great (beyond average) for a mother to intensely do everything to put her child in the best position for eternal success. Linda Chislom has been exposed, “Greatest Mom in the World 2014” (although she’s in good company)!
