Happy Mother’s Day To Mae Waugh Barrios

In celebration of Mother's Day on Sunday May 13, we asked Patch readers to write a letter to their mother and let us deliver it. This is Francisco Barrios' letter to his wife:

I write this tribute on behalf of my daughter, Maya, who will be 1 year old at the end of this month, and not quite ready to use a computer yet. She and I would like to thank her mom, Mae Waugh Barrios, for being an amazing mom — not only to little Maya, but to all of the Barrios family.

Although she has been a biological mother for just less than a year now, she has mothered my family with unconditional love for years. When we got married in 2014, she had no idea she would become a mother to all of us, but she took on the role with passion and for all she has done, we are overwhelmingly grateful.

Mae had always dreamed of being a mother, and even as a teenager said she wanted to adopt. Her chance came just four months after our marriage, when Mae and I took in my youngest brother and sister (then 16 and 13 years old) after the death of my mom.

Immediately after their arrival from Guatemala, Mae helped them learn English and become accustomed to their new life here in the U.S. For my brothers, sisters and me, she has held the role of translator, teacher, mentor, advocate and mom.

Unfortunately it took us many years to finally conceive and carry to term our rainbow baby, Maya, but I always knew we would receive a baby of our own, because Mae had so lovingly taking care of everyone else in our family. She deserved to be a mother herself.

But even as our own biological family began to grow, Mae continued to take care of our extended family. When my niece needed a temporary foster home, she welcomed this other young member into our family without hesitation.

If a mother is someone who is patient, kind, selfless, slow to anger, protective, determined and strong, Mae is the best mother I know, and I’m proud to call her Mama Barrios.

Love,
Maya, Francisco, Justo, Audelina, Sofia, Miguel, Rosa, Alan, Ruben, Katy, Ivana, Cesar, Eswin, David, Romeo, Fredy, Tia Mari and Mama Lina

—Francisco Barrios

---

See all Mother's Day Letters here.

---

For next month's Love In A Small Town feature, we want to help you give Dad the best Father's Day gift ever. Write him a heartfelt letter to tell him how much he means to you, email it to locallove@patch.com and we'll feature it in your town's newsfeed on Father's Day. Get more details here.

---

Photo Credit: Francisco Barrios