Each year in January we start our Awesome Moms contest and each year, the nominations are more than inspirational. There were over 70 amazing nominations of mothers whom we didnโt previously know but are glad we got to know and honor. Congratulations to the winner and two finalists, Jennifer Smith, Audrey Longson and Druana Sanders-Forcha. And our sincere appreciation to the sponsors who made this project possible: Renaissance Hotel, The Spa at 10 North, Erin Meier Aesthetics and James Avery Artisan Jewelry. Youโll also find more nominee stories to inspire you this Motherโs Day month at www.metrofamilymagazine.com/mom-inspiration.
Winner: Jennifer Smithย 
Jennifer Smithโs greatest wish for her children is to enjoy a very different childhood from the one she experienced. Husband David, who nominated Smith, calls his wifeโs strength and resilience โundeniable,โ permeating her roles as mom and wife, and in her career and community life.ย Our 2019 Awesome Mom winner is an Air Force Reserve Veteran, accomplished human resources manager, a two-time winner of the Military Spouse of the Year for the 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker Air Force Base and an avid volunteer, though these accomplishments pale in comparison to being wife to David, stepmom to 9-year-old Braelee and mom to 2-year-old Emmarie.
As a mom, she prioritizes being both nurturing and adaptable, raising kids who are consistently assured they are loved and valued. Smith quips that her toddler has illuminated she and Davidโs true potential for flexibility and patience, squelching the notion of a โone-size-fits-allโ parenting mentality.ย Though Smith says blending families can be challenging, she has found far more beauty in the process, particularly the joy of watching Braelee embrace her role as big sister to Emmarie. Sheโs grateful to have a great relationship with her stepdaughter.
โAs a stepmom, itโs important to remember boundaries, try not to take things personally and put yourself in the biological momโs shoes,โ said Smith.
Though Smith was separated from her mom at a young age, growing up with her brother in various foster homes, she has a clear vision of how she wants to raise her kids.
โMy only goal is to raise loved, respectful and kind human beings,โ said Smith. โAnd I want them to remember all the fun memories we shared.โ
Never adopted, Smith aged out of the foster care system at age 18. She grew up primarily in Guthrie with a strong support system from community members, who she says kept her focused on forging a bright future rather than becoming a statistic.
โHalf of the kids who age out of the [foster care] system arenโt employed by age 24,โ said Smith. โBut those challenges encouraged and motivated me to be the best parent, mom and civilian I could be.โ
A year after graduating high school, Smith joined the Air Force Reserve, providing structure, discipline and a growing confidence as she made a difference in othersโ lives. During a deployment to Kyrgyzstan, Smith recalls hanging out with local high school students while volunteering at the embassy.
โWhile getting to talk to these kids in a pretty poor country, it was neat to realize they are so much like we are; they just want to learn and have fun,โ said Smith.
Smith met husband David in the Reserve, they were married four years ago and she completed her enlistment when the couple found out they were pregnant with Emmarie.ย Smith was asked to become the Key Spouse for the 507th Security Forces Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base, which entails connecting military spouses with information and resources, planning family events several times a year and collecting funds and donations to send holiday gifts to troops overseas. As a veteran, she provides unique perspective and insight to both spouses and the unit.
โI get asked if itโs harder to be deployed or to be the family member of the deployed,โ said Smith. โBeing at home with the kids alone and making sure bills are paid is difficult, but being the deployed member is not easy either because you canโt be at home to help and you have a job to do overseas.โ
David has been deployed three times, most recently when Emmarie was just 4 months old. Being a first-time mom and without much family to rely on for help, the 7-month deployment was a challenge, but Smith says people donโt often realize that reintegration can be just as difficult as the deployed and his or her family find a new normal.ย In addition to her roles as wife, mom, volunteer and veteran, Smith is accomplished in the human resources profession, working full time, completing her masterโs degree just last spring and serving on the board of the Oklahoma City Human Resources Society.
โMeeting so many knowledgeable HR professionals inspired and motivated me to want to know more,โ said Smith. โI donโt have any family members with a masterโs degree, so it was also for me to know I could accomplish it.โ
Smithโs paper planner is key to her sanity, and sheโs found itโs just as crucial to schedule family fun, time with a friend or date night with David as it is to detail her work, volunteer or school responsibilities.ย Smithโs in-laws have been a phenomenal support system, particularly when David was deployed, and she has learned to say yes when they offer help.
โFor moms it can be difficult to leave your babies and spend time by yourself or with a friend, but itโs so important,โ said Smith.
David says his wifeโs most treasured pastime is making memories with her kids, clear in both her plannerโs pages with scheduled trips to family favorites like the Myriad Gardens and Science Museum Oklahoma, and in her everyday life. Smith exudes a joy and zest for life that are contagious. Her discipline and strength of character are rounded out by a gentleness and flexibility in caring for herย lifeโs greatest blessings. When overwhelmed by schedules, stress or a childโs tantrum, she repeats a mantra her friend imparted about the key to parenting: โJust love them.โ
โThatโs really the most important thing, making sure they know they are loved,โ said Smith.
Next page: Our finalists.
Finalist: Audrey Longson
Audrey Longson approaches issues both large and small with the intent of making the world a better place for her children. Mom to Harrison, 4, and Olivette, 2, husband Adam, who nominated her, calls Longson a โmodern day Wonder Woman.โ A psychiatrist and political advocate, Longson is passionateย about improving the healthcare system, encouraging transparency in the medical field and advocating for patientsโ rights to be treated by medical doctors versus nonphysician providers.
โWe rank among the worst in all civilized nations in terms of outcomes, general safety, accessibility and cost,โ said Longson. โCorporations, hospitals, prisons or clinics get to pocket more money [when employing non-physician providers]. The patient and the insurance company are paying for a Mercedes and getting a Kia.โ
To become a physician, Longson spent nearly 15 years in training. In her work in prison she watched care decline as non-providers without comparable training replaced physicians. She believes patients have a right to know upfront whether their providers received years of training like she did, or took a year-long online course to achieve a PhD. A recent Oklahoma House bill would allow psychologists to legally call themselves physicians and prescribe medication, though they have no medical training.
โYou canโt become a medical doctor through legislation, only through education,โ said Longson. โCorporate medicine is pushing people like psychologists and nurses to take quick online courses and put prescription pads in their hands. These patients, suffering from depression, addiction, people who are suicidal, are vulnerable and need strong advocates.โ
Longson regularly meets with Oklahoma lawmakers to advocate for change, and she recently served as a conduit between several national online physician forums to encourage the creation of a database toย connect unmatched medical students seeking residency programs with physicians around the country willing to train them.
โThere arenโt enough hours in the day, but I have seen that effort pays off,โ said Longson. โIโm starting to feel some hope. There is talk about creating more residency positions and Oklahoma is offering incentives to physicians who are able to go out to rural areas.โ
Longsonโs creativity and determination in her advocacy work is mirrored in her parenting. Rather than abandon pastimes they loved pre-children, the Longsons have embraced including their children on their adventures, whether through enjoying exotic foods, traveling, cooking or watching plays.
โIf there is something you are passionate about and itโs not something kids are traditionally engaged in, that doesnโt mean your kids canโt,โ said Longson, who laughingly calls a flight to Australia with aย 2-year.old โas bad as you would imagine,โ though the decision to tag along on Davidโs business trip is one theyโve never regretted.
Son Harrison loves Ethiopian food and making sushi with Longson at home and is likely to include Spaghetti-Os along with salmon. Longson has learned to give her kids straightforward answers to their questions, whether about a dog passing away or how the knee joint works.
โIโm surprised over and over what kids can comprehend, remember and apply to the future,โ said Longson. โI donโt think itโs for adults to determine what children are or are not capable of understanding.โ
Recent Oklahoma transplants, Longson calls Oklahoma City โthe coolest place the rest of the country has never thought about visiting,โ impressed with the variety of museums, festivals and art available to her family. A botanic garden buff, the Myriad Gardens ranks at the top of Longsonโs list, and the family loves catching plays at the Lyric Theatre, the Civic Center or Shakespeare in the Park and visiting Science Museum Oklahoma, the OKC Zoo and Factory Obscura.
As Longson maneuvers parenting in a social media-driven world, sheโs highly aware of the negative impact both it and reality TV can have on mental health, thanks to her own research and work with her patients. She believes in leading by example, monitoring her own social media usage and beingย present with her kids rather than watching life from behind a lens or measuring worth in likes. Key to her own mental health is getting together with other moms in person, often to discuss books, which the voracious reader listens to while doing dishes or folding laundry. The movie buff also keeps up withย the latest films by watching 10 to 15 minutes at a time.
Longson leads by example when it comes to caring for the world around her, too, able to recycle or repurpose just about anything, from furniture on the side of the road to items they no longer need in their household.
โMuch to my husbandโs chagrin, my kids know you donโt throw something out just because it doesnโt work for you anymore,โ said Longson, who laughs that she was in the Earth Club before it was the cool thing to do.
From filling recycling bins to bags of clothes, toys or food donations for those in need, Longson loves watching her children think through new uses for old things. While the challenges of parenting, political activism or preserving the earth might seem daunting for some, for Longson, there is great joy inย empowering her kids to be world changers.
โI want them to know everything they do matters, even the little things,โ said Longson. โItโs energizing when you see in real time evidence that taking a few small steps can make a huge difference.โ
Finalist: Druana Sanders-Forcha
Druana Sanders-Forcha epitomizes grit and determination. In addition to mothering two adult sons, a son finishing high school and 2-year-old daughter and being wife to Eric, Sanders-Forcha is esteemed in her engineering career and passionate about providing nourishing meals to underserved children and families. As a young, single mom of three boys, Sanders-Forcha vividly remembers spending evenings at the library, all four doing homework together as she held both a fulltime job at an engineering company andย attended college full time. When not at the library, her mom would keep the boys so Sanders-Forcha could study or attend class.
Though Sanders-Forcha dropped out after her first attempt at college after high school, saying neither she nor her mom realized the grants and resources available to her, memories of high school drafting classes and awe of the projects in her workplace inspired her to pursue her bachelorโs degreeย in electronic engineering.
โI wanted to be a provider for my kids because for a long time, it was just us,โ said Sanders-Forcha. โI couldnโt afford not to work full-time, but I also felt like I owed it to my kids.โ
In her family, she calls her pursuit of education the exception rather than the norm, and she wanted something different for her boys. By removing barriers she hoped to show them they could one day pursue college, too. A degree also paved the way to purchase a new home in Spencer, where sheย still lives, after her oldest boys were hit by a car in their old neighborhood, requiring middle son Darrick to be medevaced to Childrenโs Hospital. Soon after Sanders-Forcha earned her bachelorโs degree, her college adviser encouraged her to attain her masterโs in performance improvement, which helpedย her earn her current position as senior lead engineer at Booz Allen Hamilton. She finds great fulfillment in helping clients bring products to fruition.
That same work ethic and positive spirit aided friend Lisa Blacknoll, who nominated Sanders-Forcha, in launching non-profit organization Filling Tummies in 2017. Focused on providing fresh, nutritiousย foods to children in local food deserts, the team takes a bus once or twice a month to local schools, as funds and requests align. The Filling Tummies bus creates a party atmosphere in school parking lots,ย cranking up music and welcoming 100 percent of students to grab a bag and shop. No questions are asked about need, income or family size because Sanders-Forcha remembers how dehumanizing that feels.
โWhen I was a child and my Mom needed help every once in a while, weโd go to the food pantry and youโd sit there half the day answering questions about your house size, income and religion,โ said Sanders-Forcha. โYouโd sell your soul for a bag of groceries, and it may not even be things you wantedย and needed.โ
Filling Tummies doesnโt give away food the volunteers wouldnโt want themselves, and while they stock kid-friendly snacks, they also educate kids on the variety of fresh fruit and vegetables available. Many have never seen a mango, cucumber or cherry tomatoes. Volunteers encourage kids to think beyondย themselves and select choices family members will like, too.
โWhen youโre on a fixed income, you economize and get things you can afford, which is usually not fresh stuff,โ said Sanders-Forcha. โBut now they get to know what a real orange or pear tastes like, without preservatives.โ
Sanders-Forcha loves watching kids feel empowered by making their own food choices and contributing to their families. The team gave away more than 10,000 pounds of food over Spring Break, and Sanders-Forcha dreams of doing more for underserved families.ย The hardworking mom also believes in the power of play and laughter. Sanders-Forcha finds immense joy in watching her kids play sports. She takes time for herself by playing in a womenโs basketball league and making handbags and purses for her side venture.
She loves to travel, whether with Blacknoll and families renting out a cabin each year, visiting her siblings and extended family in Las Vegas, or exploring new destinations with husband Eric, most recently Canada and Africa.
Though Sanders-Forcha feels great pride in her boysโ pursuit of higher education, Darian a college graduate, Darrick in college and Denis attending this fall, her nurturing heart has had a hard time letting them go. After earning scholarships to a Connecticut high school, eldest Darian son left home evenย earlier than anticipated.
โI wasnโt prepared and thought I had a few years left to mother him,โ said Sanders-Forcha. โBut when I realized what a great opportunity it was and that he had earned it, I had to let him go.โ
While Sanders-Forcha is grateful to have Dalynn at home to ease the transition, watching her boys find their own passions has fulfilled her biggest dreams.