When I first moved away from home in 2001, I think I was a little bit too happy to be away from mom and dad. For six months I never went home and rarely called them on the phone. That year, during Mothers’ Weekend, I even forbid my mother from visiting. I guess I thought that parents were still an embarrassing element in my life.

This year, I’d like to apologize. What a meanie I was! (And sometimes still am.) This year, things will be different and I am beyond excited to have my mom come and stay with me for a few days that will probably go by way too fast.

As we have put together this issue of Scroll for Mothers’ Weekend, I have enjoyed reading all of the many touching (and sometimes downright hilarious) stories written about mothers and women.

Allow me to share some of my favorites that are included in the next several sections: a collection of embarrassing moments with mom, a column about a mother who decided to adopt 11 children after having five of her own, a two-page spread of women in politics, a story about a student on campus who injured his friend’s mother with a human sling shot during last year’s Mothers’ Weekend and a look at what two mothers in Rexburg haul around in their purses.

As I have read through these stories, it has been both fun and inspiring to see how much our mothers matter to us.

As part of this year’s theme, “Mommies Matter Most,” we decided to incorporate the impressive art work from local school children attending Adams Elementary in Rexburg. They generously provided us with an abundance of colorful pictures, stories and poems depicting their favorite memories with Mom. I would like to personally thank them and their teachers for reminding us why our mommies have always meant so much to us.

To all of the mothers who will be visiting this week – welcome! We are excited to have you here and are grateful for the efforts you’ve made to be with your children and experience their daily college life. Thank you for the countless sacrifices you have made in our behalf and for being a constant support to us during our student years.