Five generations of one family made sure this would be a Mother's Day that great-great-great-grandmother Mary Welcome would not forget.
A pink stretch Hummer was a unique ride for Mother's Day, and it was perfect for a woman like Welcome. You'd never catch her in a black limousine on a day like this.
"I don't like to ride black limousines because I ride in so many black limousines going to funerals until it just makes me nauseated," she said. "I don't like black limousines."
Perhaps it's that sense of humor which has her celebrating at the age of 92. Surrounded by five generations at a Mother's Day gospel brunch in downtown Houston, Welcome and her loved ones reflected Sunday on the joy and the sacrifices she has made to remain so dedicated to her family.
"I had two children, then I got a job and then I went to work. My husband passed and I had to stop," she said. "The best way I could to raise my children."
"She made a lot of sacrifices," daughter Sheila Landry said. "And in seeing how she made her sacrifices, it made me be a strong woman."
Family photos reveal the life Welcome built for her children in Houston's Fifth Ward in the 1970s, where she was also politically active, registering voters and working for the community to have decent housing conditions.
"She taught me that dignity and pride was the most important thing in my life," Landry said.
"The best lesson she ever taught me is love your Mom," granddaughter Danita Davidson said. "Love your mom, no matter good or bad. That is your mom."
And that's a sentiment everyone in the family clearly takes to heart, including their mother and mentor.
"I have siblings and daughters and I have a son," Welcome said. "And it means so much for me to be here on this Mother's Day."
Find Elissa on Facebook at ABC13ElissaRivas or on Twitter at @elissa_rivas13
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