The love we are given by our mothers can set the course for the rest of our lives. Whether it is something as easy as baking cheesecake or understanding the importance of loyalty, our readers shared some of the lessons they have learned from their mother.

• You should never trust a man who doesn’t love his mother. She was 100 percent correct.

• To be loyal, keep my word, respect myself, to see the best in people and be positive.

• To listen and to love unconditionally.

• Teach self-love and the irrationality of pursing your dreams in the face of convention. Learn to balance, letting go with checking in.

• Compassion, unconditional love, honesty.

• Work hard, say please and thank you and to love your neighbor as thyself.

• Above and beyond all things in the world – beyond material possessions, life choices –  and circumstance, a mother deeply wishes for her children to be TRULY HAPPY.

• She would often quote from the bard … in this case from Hamlet: “This above all- to thine own self be true …”

• To love fiercely, live passionately and laugh often, and to always have art and music in your life.

• To be an amazing cook.

• To be an overcomer. She grew up in Mexico in extreme poverty. She didn’t speak English till her 20s. Put herself through school to become a teacher. Became a leader at her craft EVEN though English was her second language. Raised us alone, and through all she’s been through she owns her own home and car outright, is comfortably retired and had no bitterness of her past.

•To laugh often, love deepl and make the meal expand to feed everyone who showed up at the table. And, boy, was her table the place to be!

• To be a good listener and think before you speak.

• “This too shall pass.” Comforting words for the challenging times.

• How to bone a chicken, miter corners on top bed sheets and to love, worry and laugh.

• To turn the mirror on myself and ask how I can be a better person.

• To have hope, faith and to keep moving forward.

• Unconditional love. Fairness. Loyalty. Compassion. And how to make an awesome cheesecake.

• How to love another creature with full abandon.