Amazing Moms: 'Strong and Judicious'

In honor of Mother's Day, Wisconsin Patch is running a story about an "Amazing Mom" once a day this week. Our second Amazing Mom comes from Janel Brandtjen, a Wisconsin state rep. from Waukesha County. Have an Amazing Mom? E-Mail Scott.Anderson@patch.com and tell us your story!

Unflappable. That’s the word: the one that always pops in my mind when I think of my mother, Sally Gallatin. Calm, cool in a crisis, confident. It’s probably from being a nurse, the daughter of a nurse, and the mother of three girls (one who was also a nurse). You learn to look every situation straight in the eye with an unyielding, businesslike strength of purpose.

Injury, sickness, troubles, tragedies: she was unflappable.

Births, weddings, vacations, joys: she was unflappable.

I’ve learned from her that life is so full of peaks and valleys that if we can’t learn to handle them all with a mature, pragmatic demeanor, we leave ourselves open to being overwhelmed by the rhythm of life.

As a state legislator, I’m faced with a variety of issues that have high emotional content connected to them, with voices from both sides creating a cacophony of discontent.

When faced with such issues, I harken back to my mother, and strive to be strong and judicious. To do what I believe is right, and not bend to the pressures of the moment. To be, in a word, unflappable. Just like mom.

Love,

Janel

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