Flowers, greeting cards, and breakfast in bed are often considered when Mother’s Day approaches. Always taking place on the second Sunday in May, Mother’s Day has been around for a long time – since 1908.
Franklin Magazine recognizes there is a multitude of wonderful and amazing mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and friends who will be honored on Mother’s Day.
Michelle Dillon, Franklin resident, fits the bill as an a-MAY-zing mom. She and her husband, Franklin Police Officer Joe Dillon, have been married 30 years and recently became empty nesters after 25 years and seven children.
Graduating with a degree in criminal justice, Dillon began working in a juvenile detention center. She felt she could make a greater impact by getting involved with kids at a younger age, so she obtained her teaching license and taught for 11 years in Perry Township, and the past 10 years for Franklin schools. She and her husband also own Dillon Travels together.
Dillon credits God with how her family came to be. “We had our first bio son after college and immediately realized we were complete failures as parents,” she said. “He never slept so neither did we, and it seemed we must be the worst parents on the planet and should not have more.”
A few years later the Dillons decided one more child made sense, so their son, David, would not be an only child. Not only was the next child a perfect sleeper, but Emma was born deaf. They were confident a family of four was complete.
Dillon said God had another plan for their family. She describes a spunky 12-year-old girl, Angelica, who walked into her sixth-grade classroom and never walked back out of her heart. Dillon recalls telling her husband one night that she was concerned for her because she was an undocumented immigrant from Mexico with no family here, and was in foster care. Dillon said that without a blink, her husband said, “We will take her.”
Dillon said she and her husband had never even imagined any form of guardianship or adoption, but soon they had completed their foster-care classes. They questioned their abilities as they found themselves parenting a teen just 15 years younger than themselves. They felt sure that their family was complete, as three children outnumbered the two of them.
Ten years later another student walked into their lives. Fernando was from Guatemala. Not only did he walk into their hearts, but he became best friends with their son. Fernando came for a visit one weekend and never left. A month later, Dillon came home from work one day to find his younger brother, Yobany, in her backyard, and somehow their family now held five kids. Another long-time student, Manny, who is from Ghana, Africa, moved in, and the next year, another student, Wenny, who is Haitian, asked if he could finish his school year with them as his family was moving. He ended up staying after the school year ended.
“People ask if we are done now,” Dillon said. “We never started; it was always God, and we have pushed back so many times, but God steered all these relationships and provided along the way.”
Joe and Michelle said they are grateful for the support of some amazing friends and family that encouraged them along their parenting journey.
Dillon said her parents influenced her as a mother. She said her mom had high expectations and was present at every possible event when she was growing up. Her dad married her mom when she had three kids. He later adopted Michelle and her two brothers, showing her that love has nothing to do with biology.
“Ridiculously organized” is how Dillon describes their home life. At one point they had five kids in high school at once, all involved in sports and activities. They learned the gift of a big-family dynamic. Everyone learned a lot about leadership, compassion and relationships in a hands-on environment. Everyone helped where they could with rides, lawn mowing, doing their own laundry, and cleaning their own spaces. This prepared them for life as adults.
Now that those adults have flown the nest, Dillon is realizing that being a mom looks a little different now. She likes to read and play, and walk her dog. She said she exercises because she knows she must stay in shape for “act two”, when she becomes a grandma in a few years.
Dillon and her family have been members of Victory Christian Church for over 20 years. Perhaps not surprisingly, she helps in the nursery of the church.
The Dillon family makes time each month to get together and hang out, play board games, eat, watch sports and laugh. Dillon said her happiest times are spent with all the kids together, laughing and enjoying one another.
When asked about an ideal day off, Dillon said she would spend time together with her best friend of 40 years, and talk about everything and nothing.
Dillon offers this advice for new moms – or any mom: “Pray, love your babies and do your best. You will definitely mess up because you have never done this before, but you will also get better. Every stage has its own adventure and beauty, so enjoy them all.”
