Spreading Love

My everyday hero makes the lives of 14 two-year-olds just a little bit more special.

Betty Nelson, 76, is a foster grandparent who works at the YMCA day care. She is more affectionately known as Mama Betty; sometimes the kids call her Old Lady and then burst out laughing! Humor is probably the biggest thing that Betty adds to our lives.

There is nothing typical or old about Betty. Her trademarks are her short, white cowboy boots. She also helps “educate” the kids. Last month we were walking to the bus stop to take a field trip (Betty hasn’t missed one yet). It was a very windy day and Betty was using one hand to keep her wig from flying away. The next wind gust came along and one little girl stopped, started crying and held onto her hair with both hands, worried that her own hair would fly off like Mama Betty’s. The next week Mama Betty brought in a wig for the kids to see and try on.

Betty spreads her love throughout the YMCA, baking for bake sales and visiting her “babies” that have moved on to an older class.

Betty makes my job a lot easier. The love and humor she adds to my group of two-year-olds makes every day a great day!