Moms Who Rock: JoAnne Rotondo, Toms River

For more than 100 years, we have taken a day to honor mothers -- those women who care for others, whether it’s by virtue of having given birth or because they are simply giving souls who watch over all of those around them.

We gave our readers the chance to tell us about their mothers and what makes them special. Here is one of those nominations:

Josephine ”JoAnne” Rotondo, Toms River

My mother is a high school dropout. Don’t get too excited — she went to beauty school. She worked at various salons in Brooklyn before she opened her own salon at 21. Through her first boss, she was introduced to my father, Vincent Rotondo. They dated for 10 years, while she ran her own successful business. They were married in January 1994. My mother was still working at her salon, “Who’s That Girl”.

November of 1994, my mother announced to my two grandmothers, (both grandfathers had then passed) that she was pregnant. Late November of 1994, my mother’s mother, Gloria, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. February of 1995, my mother’s mother passed. My mother started hemorrhaging and was heavily bleeding. Doctors thought she would lose the baby. She buried her mother on Valentine’s Day.

Luckily for you (and, well, me) she did not lose the baby -- I am the baby. I was born in July 5, 1995. My mother worked up until July 3. She closed the doors of her salon and never went back. She gave up her dream to become my best friend. She tells me she was petrified having an infant and no mother to fall back on. I like to think she did a pretty good job. When I was in kindergarten, she went back to work -- can’t keep her away. Not even halfway though my school year, she announced she was pregnant with my younger brother (born June 2001).

You will struggle to find a mother love her children more than this woman loves us. This is a woman who sacrificed her dreams, made herself go without plenty of times, in order to assure that she raised her children well, but also that she knew them. My father, also a saint, works two jobs so my mother could raise us. So many mothers want to give their children a good life, so they go off to work and leave their children with nannies. How could one ensure their children are living a good life, being raised by someone other than their mother. Me? I did not live the good life growing up. I lived the best life — with my mother (and father) by my side. She doesn’t just rock. When I think of someone rocking, I think of an actual rock. I like to think of a rock as plain, ordinary. She is the Hope Diamond of mothers. Only few are lucky enough to possess her, while all others want her.

Why does my mother deserve the spotlight? She is a natural born entertainer. Honestly. A five-minute errand turns into a three-hour adventure because she always has to find her way to the center of everyone’s attention. That’s just JoAnne. Why does she deserve the spotlight? I can promise you that she will make you laugh. No matter what happened or what we go through, and like anybody, and we go through our fair share, this woman is always smiling. She can pick up the spirits of just about anybody and quite honestly make it look effortless.

When I hear people say, “Oh God, I’m turning into my mother,” all I could think is, “I genuinely hope there comes a day where I could say that.” She deserves the spotlight because she has put herself second (and then third) for the past twenty years. She has put my brother and I first in every single capacity for these years and has taken no attempts at reward because, “that’s what mothers do.”

Vanessa Rotondo