Mother’s Day is meaningful to Heather Yaeger, not only because of her own three children, but also because it reminds her of all the older children in the Philippines who need homes. Yaeger is the executive director of adoptions and out-of-home care for Lutheran Social Services.

Gerald “Jerry” E. Echtner, 79, of Cecil, passed away on Thursday, May 7, 2015. Jerry was born on May 3, 1936, to the late Edward and Harriet (Yeager) Echtner in Shawano. He married Beverly “Bev” Weisnicht on Oct. 21, 1961, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Town of Washington. Jerry was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Town of Washington, served as an elder for St. Paul Lutheran Church and was a member of the church choir.

To the editor: “Correctional officers have the difficult and often dangerous assignment of ensuring the custody, safety and well-being of the over 600,000 inmates in our nation’s prisons and jails.

To the editor: Kudos to the Menominees for their stand against mining operations in our northern areas. The April 21 cryptogram was one of their proverbs, which spells it out truthfully: “Only when the last tree has died and the last river poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” How many know that the lakes north of Laona are full of PCBs from past mining?

“All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” — Abraham Lincoln “Is this the long way?” asked the young mother as she set her foot on the path of life. The Guide said, “Yes, and the way is hard, and you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning.” The young mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years.

Acting runs in the family. My daughter Deanna, granddaughters Tara and Peyton and I drove down to Viroqua to see grandson Ethan in his eighth-grade play, “The Secret Garden.” Ethan is our daughter Michelle’s son. Michelle is an actress with her community theater group, and a fine one at that. Ethan, who has shot up in height over the past two years, carried off his lofty role of wealthy widower Archibald Craven.

Many daughters, as children, want to be like their mother. Then those rebellious teenage years arrive, and our quest for independence often make us vow to not be like our mother. That was true for me. Although I always respected and loved my mother, to me, she was so old-fashioned.

Mom was a woman of determination, full of grit, stamina and drive.

Five people spend their Monday evenings at area nursing homes and senior apartments. For an hour each week, Fresh Faith Group sings old jazz, musicals, country, gospel and hymns for the residents.