About us

My name is Jones and I’m married to my wife, Tanya. We have three children. We live in Calgary, Alberta. I am a physical therapist by training, and I have been practicing for the past 18 years. The inspiration to start Great Mother Heart came to me when my beloved mother passed away on February 9, 2014. We had a Christian wake to celebrate her life. During the service, all her children had ample opportunity to reminisce about the life our mother had lived; we all shed tears of joy from fond memories we talked about. I remember her sacrifice, enduring love, care, prayers, and resilience; the list goes on and on. Then, I realized there was no better way to keep her legacy alive than to start this blog and write about motherhood. The question then arose: Why would a father take so much interest in motherhood — a terrain that traditionally belongs to the mother? The answer is self-evident in that she helped me became who I am today. I grew up with the only love I knew — the unwavering love of a Godly mother. I knew no other parental love since my father passed away when I was four years old.

My mother was my mentor and cheerleader; she was my teacher; she taught me unforgettable life lessons that I still apply today. She was a woman of faith. I derived my earlier insight into life and spirituality from my mother’s adherence to old fashion Anglicanism. Morning prayers were a daily spiritual exercise. Personal morning prayer always precedes a congregational one. I remember with fond memory the battle of wills or, should I say, a small tug of war that usually ensued almost every morning. As the call-to-prayer bell rang, my mother would wake me up, grab me by hand to take me to church for morning prayer, which I always resisted because I wanted to sleep some more. My mother always had a solution for my “sleep problem.” In a gentle but firm voice, she would say to me, “Son, come with me to church, and when we get there, you can continue your sleep.” Just like that. I believe it’s only a mother that can wield such an enormous influence, and that was the crucible that shaped my earlier spirituality.

My mom also taught me to dream–I mean big dreams. Even before I could dream, she dreamt for me. Her dream for me was so robust that I could not dream less for myself. She made me believe that there is a bigger world out there that I must explore. She emphasized to me the importance of higher education as a tool to explore that world of opportunity.

She had her fair share of struggles as well, one of them being poverty. Even though we were poor, parsimony was not a virtue to her. She was both open-hearted and open-handed. She gave out of the paucity of our resources without hesitation. To her, giving was living. She believed that the genuineness of our humanity is wrapped up in the sacrifice and love we show to others.

I’m so blessed to have had her as my mother. I believe there are countless numbers of mothers like her that we must celebrate every day for their sacrifice in raising their children. Also, I do know that there are mothers who fall short of the acceptable standard of mothering; their children are not proud of them, their relationship is horrible, and some are even sworn enemies. We have a message of hope. Reconciliation is not only possible but achievable. My goal is to encourage mothers and their children to pursue reconciliation so that they can experience the joy that only motherhood offers. GMH is here to celebrate and inspire mothers. We will provide them the opportunity to know that motherhood is a place of significance and influence. The potential for positive influence is enormous. We are looking forward to celebrating you as well.