Good Neighbor May 2021
Mothers’ Day- Liz Greer
What is it that makes a mother? Is it the ten months we spend growing a child and then the act of giving birth that makes us a mother? Perhaps it is greater than that. It may be the one who nurtures us, teaches us, tends our wounds, feeds us, disciplines us, and celebrates our victories. Each day being a mother is so much more than we ever expect it to be. It is a rewarding and at times thankless job. Small moments of surprise and warmth are met with other moments of fear when we wish our children were handed to us with that illusive “instruction manual” that seems to have evaded us all.
For Liz Greer and her story, she fits all of these multi-faceted dimensions of what creates motherhood and family. While working fulltime, going to school herself to receive her degree in human services, and raising three boys (one of which she homeschools) she finds the time to still be a present wife and mother. She and her husband Sam combined their families to create yours, mine and ours, but really there is no separating the bond of family for them. Their sons Ky 15, Noah 14, and Lincoln 7 seem to be the bedrock that Liz plans her days around.
Liz has worked at Pioneer Urgent Care for twelve years. During the last few years of this time, she has simultaneously been taking courses to get her degree in Human Services. It is her goal to become a much-needed counselor for people in crisis in our area. Providing help to those in need struggling with drug or alcohol addiction is something the Liz feels very passionate about.
She moved to Elko at the age of two after being adopted. She was born in Las Vegas, NV and it was only a few years ago that she learned who her birth mother was. Her strong relationship with her adopted mother made her strong enough to have the support system she needed to reach out and forge relationships with her biological family members as well. Making her life richer for the experience of having not only her adoptive family but now relationships with her biological one as well. She will be traveling to Texas in the summer to meet her biological brothers for the first time.
Liz’s days start with getting dinner for the evening started before they even leave the house. With three growing boys, they are always hungry. A sentiment that many mothers can truly understand. She then gets her older boys ready for school and helps her youngest son Lincoln with his homeschooling for the day before she drops her Ky, and Noah off at their schools and Lincoln off at his grandmothers. She then spends her day at work after she which she gets her boys and helps them with school projects and other homework. After she helps the boys with their homework, and they eat dinner she then starts her homework and discussion forums for the evening. It is a very full and packed day. This feels like one that many of us can relate to. You then start to add in the dishes, laundry, errands, little things that we all juggle with out even thinking about it. When do we sleep?
Liz like many of us devotes so much of herself to her children and her husband. Finding the balance between the hobbies that make her a more balanced and better human in order to help make our children better humans. Liz finds comfort in her garden. She has a green house that she grows a variety of vegetables. Finding something that full fills us on our own is important in order to make sure that we have something that is our own. We give so much of ourselves to our families.
Being a mother is a gift every day. We appreciate the sacrifices that mothers make big and small. Each and every mother. We find it a gift that we are able to highlight this incredible mother this month. To Liz and every other example of a great mother out there thank you for being a Good Neighbor.
Next month we would love to highlight one or two incredible fathers. If you know of a great dad out there, please call 775-738-3423 or email [email protected]