Kamyle Zumbahlen says her mother, Lori, is one of the most caring people she knows.
“She stops whatever she is doing and helps me with whatever I need,” the 10-year-old wrote in nominating Lori Zumbahlen for EDN Mother of the Year. “Even if anything is last minute, she tries to make anything we want to happen.”
Kamyle recalled one of those times.
“My mom was earning her master’s degree. I wanted to go get ice cream. Even though she was busy, she decided to go get ice cream with me,” she said.
In her nomination letter, Kamyle noted how her mother always asks her what she wants to do instead of doing whatever she wants and always considers others.
“Sometimes when we are on vacation with our family, she will ask all of us what we want to eat or do instead of doing what she wants to do,” she said.
Kamyle admires her mother for her kindness to everyone. “And of course her beauty,” she said.
The reason, Lori said, for her selfless nature with her children – which include Caleb, 13, and Blake, 16 — is simple.
“So my children will know that I am there for them and am their biggest fan!” she said.
That mentality carries over to her job as a special education teacher for Dieterich Unit 30.
“I want my students to know that I support them and want to help them achieve success in the classroom, while having fun along the way,” she said.
Lori strives to be a supportive and a caring mother like her own mother.
“She taught me to work hard, try to always do my best, and help others when I can. I lost her to cancer five years ago and try to honor her memory by instilling the same values in my children that she worked so hard to instill in me,” she said.
As a mother, Lori said the most rewarding part is watching her children grow into kind and caring young adults. However, she admits there is one challenge.
“Learning to let go a little as they become young adults,” she said.
Lori’s advice for other mothers would be to live in the moment with your children.
“They grow up so fast and those memories will mean so much to them as they grow older,” she said.
Despite her academic achievements and career, Lori considers motherhood to be her greatest achievement.
“I am honored to be named a Mother of the Year,” she said.