GROVES — It’s a good thing Jo Ann Bledsoe’s son is known for his gift of gab. His mother was nearly speechless when she got the Groves Mother of the Year award on Thursday.

“I’m just so shocked. There are no words,” she said.

Her family gathered around her at the Courtyard Cafe on Thursday as Ronnie Boneau and other Groves Chamber of Commerce & Tourist Center representatives informed her of the honor.

“My mother is so loving and so caring to not just the family, but to others. For her to be selected as Groves Mother of the Year just makes me cry and smile,” Dan Bledsoe said.

Tisha Rawls, Jo Ann’s granddaughter, got her out of the house with the pretense of looking at tiles. Instead, they met up with others for the luncheon. Boneau said the family was very appreciative when notified their mother would be surprised. Residents wrote letters nominating mothers and Bledsoe took the honor.

In his letter, son Dan discussed how his mother, a two-time cancer survivor, is part of the M.D. Anderson Volunteer Network and comforts people about to undergo similar procedures and treatments.

“That person hears a calm and soothing voice from my mother. They laugh. They cry. And this person that has never known my mother until now experiences the warmth, love and compassion that my mother has shown all of her life to her family, friends and others,” the letter reads. “One only needs to look at my mother once and see her smiling face to know who much she brightens up others every day.”

Those in attendance included her son Doug and his wife Nancy; her son Paul; her daughter Dawn and her husband Randy Jackson; Rawls; and family friend Debbie Majors. Her daughter Jo Lynn Bledsoe Scott lifes in Colorado. She has a deceased daughter, D’Ann Bledsoe Carter. Her late husband is Douglas Bledsoe Sr.

Contact this reporter at ddoiron@panews.com.