Double Take
No two moms are alike. Shapes and sizes vary as much as the style each brings to parenting.
But just when we think mom is one of a kind, we look in the mirror — discovering she imparted more than boundaries, baked goods and sage advice.
Listed here are mothers and daughters in Butler County whose similarities appear both inside and out.
Ronna Miller's living room contains a framed essay titled "My Hero," a childhood tribute to Ronna by her daughter, Maisie, now 16.Although Maisie still sees Ronna as a mentor, she increasingly sees her mother as a mirror image as well as a friend."I am just like you, Mom," Maisie said recently while at the family's home in Saxonburg."We have the same personality, the same looks. ... She's more like my best friend than she is my mom. I tell her everything."Avid shopping companions, mother and daughter wear the same size clothing and shoes — sometimes sharing the items they purchase.During the football and basketball season at Knoch High School, they can often be found in cheer squad apparel.A cheerleader throughout her high school years, Ronna now serves as a cheerleading coach: this year as the school's ninth grade coach but planning next year to coach junior varsity.As a cheerleader this year on the junior varsity squad, Maisie hopes to advance to the varsity level.Like her mother, Maisie also participates in high school track and field."My husband says they never had to clone a sheep," Ronna noted. "Because I've cloned (Maisie) already."
By the time Kim Cameron was 10 years old, she had amassed a collection of 500 original poems. Her 10-year-old daughter Lydia is not far behind.Aside from the freckles and sense of humor the Butler mother and daughter possess, Kim and Lydia also are linked by their love of writing."We're working on a book together called 'Pig Praise,'" Kim said, describing a concept that was developed when Lydia was 3 or 4 years old.Hoping to someday complete the project, mom and daughter kept the preliminary sketches of Tanglier, a little pig whose Christian faith is questioned by his antagonist peer, Angalette.In addition to "Pig Praise," Lydia has drafted part of a self-help book for girls."It's a Christian girl's perspective on handling peer pressure," Kim said. "On how to make right choices in a world that's not always doing so.""It's (also) about how to eat right," Lydia added, citing her mother as a resource on good nutrition.As well as their love of writing, Kim and Lydia both enjoy pottery. Kim's collection includes pieces Lydia created in pottery classes at the Associated Artists of Butler County Art Center.In addition to common traits and interests, appearance also links the two. Kim recalls being approached at Emily Brittain Elementary School, which her daughter attends, and hearing the comment, "You must be Lydia's mom."
Matching blonde locks are but one feature shared by Debbie Bacher and her 27-year-old daughter, Amy Vernon.Even though they share a hairdresser — scheduling appointments for the same day — the bond between this pair extends beyond their similar styles.Living seven doors apart in Butler Township, the two carpool to work each day, never having to quibble about music in the vehicle."We listen to the same radio station in the morning," Debbie said, adding she and her daughter also prefer the same shows on TV.The two also count shopping trips, bowling outings and a weekly church service among their regular times together."We are really close," Amy said.Debbie said their connection began when her only daughter was born prematurely, weighing only 3 pounds."I was very ill and they weren't sure either of us was going to make it — so I think our bond began with that," she said.Amy said growing up, she and Debbie bypassed mother-daughter conflicts so common among her teenage friends.Planning Amy's 2005 wedding also evolved with little stress."We just always got along really, really well," Amy said.Debbie's tenacity has also commanded respect from her daughter, who witnessed her successful battle with cancer."She's such a strong person," Amy said. "She's always a good role model. ... She puts a positive spin on things. She doesn't let anyone get her down."Debbie and Amy also both share an interest in fitness, having participated together in the Butler Road Race. When it's not raining, the two can be found making evening laps through the neighborhood."We always walk in the evenings," Amy said.
Despite her busy days as a dentist, Stephanie Kobil makes time for her 16-year-old daughter, Kelsey.Although the Butler Township teen is likewise occupied with lacrosse, she frequently is found alongside her mother onstage in local theater productions."You got me hooked," said Kelsey, who has performed with Stephanie in a number of Sing Hosanna! musicals."We have gone to the theater every summer since she was 4," Stephanie explained."Driving in the car, that's all we listen to is show tunes."Describing Stephanie as the "goofier" of the two, Kelsey said her mother excels in comedic improv and acting — with Kelsey more adept at singing."If we sing together, we blend," she explained. "We have nice harmony. Together, our voices have similar qualities — a similar tone."Kelsey also has developed a knack for mimicking a quirky facial expression in which Stephanie holds her mouth at a slant with the lower lip protruding."Nobody in the family can do it at all," Kelsey said, adding her mother can produce the slant in either direction, while Kelsey has only mastered one.Describing themselves as people persons, both also cite a fondness for animals.Despite the similarities between Stephanie and Kelsey, each says she is clear on her unique personality and role — Stephanie inclined toward math and science, Kelsey toward English and history."We're definitely mom and daughter," Stephanie said. "We're not best friends, but we see eye to eye.""Our courses of action are very similar," Kelsey added. "How we go about them are different."<br></br><br></br><br></br>
According to Carol Eury, mothers never stop giving care packages. Her daughter, Karen Lindey, is glad they don't."I usually come down on Saturdays. We spend the entire day together," said Karen, who travels to her childhood home in Oakland Township from her present home in Harrisville."We eat a lot, sit around and talk. She usually finds some chores for me to do. And she always gives me a care package."The packages might contain, clothes, books or vitamins, reflecting Carol's longtime emphasis on nutrition."They were raised on whole wheat," she said of Karen and her other children.Nowadays, the care packages include homemade gluten-free bread, taking into account Karen's dietary intolerance."I believe eating right and doing the right things keep chronic disease away," Carol maintains.Carol says their similarities extend beyond a focus on health."We both have been restaurant managers. We both like line dancing. We both like square dancing," Carol cited."We both hate the phone," her daughter agreed, adding a dislike of television to the list.Mother and daughter both prefer living in the country, and say they both have adopted the habit of cleaning their kitchens in the morning instead of after the evening meal."We're alike — more alike than not," Karen said.
When Arlene Roth works in her Butler garden, she is tending to more than the tulips. Her backyard plot is a site she shares with her 7-year-old daughter, Samantha.Although Samantha sometimes takes cuttings to her teacher, the first grader at Emily Brittain Elementary School also brought home two sunflower seedlings."This flower has a lot of friends, so it will grow quick," Samantha said while transplanting the flowers, which were part of a classroom lesson on organisms.The sunflowers will join a variety of primroses, forget-me-knots and other blossoms already flowering in the yard.When Arlene and Samantha aren't in the garden, they share a number of hobbies indoors.Samantha is following in her mother's footsteps by taking piano lessons, and both enjoy scrapbooking."My mom likes to read to me a lot," Samantha said. "And I read to her once in awhile."Arlene and Samantha both enjoy being social, and like to eat similar foods.Both say they have a talent for also making a "mean Italian" face.Arlene serves as her daughter's Brownie troop leader, and the two enjoy live theater performances."I'm more the artsy type," Arlene said, contrasting that trait with the competitive nature on the soccer field Samantha derives from her father."She likes music. She loves the theater. ¿ She has a lot of the same interests as me.""She's so nice to me," agreed Samantha. "She likes to do a lot of what I like to do."
When Janet Rikal sees her 14-year-old daughter Kayla, she sees a person much like herself."We're very much alike in everything," said Janet, who lives in Butler."We both like to dance. We both like country music. We have certain TV shows we like. I think she has the same good heartedness I have.""We're both outgoing," Kayla added of a shared trait her mother describes as "butterfly personalities."Both say they like suntans and fishing.Janet said she likes that her daughter is athletic, recently making a choice to play lacrosse over continuing as a cheerleader."I like that she's in sports," said Janet, also once a cheerleader. "I was in sports when I was in school."As of last month, both are also officially students.Janet began a career development program at Butler County Community College that she hopes will lead to certification as a phlebotomist."I hope that she will want to go to college," she said of her daughter."She's a pretty good student. She works hard at school."
Laura Stull sometimes thinks she takes after her father, but many who know the 31-year-old Grove City woman and her mother, Linda Beatty of Liberty Township, see things differently.Since both women pursued careers in nursing, successively working at what is now Grove City Medical Center —they have accumulated a pool of common friends. Those friends can hear, if not see, similarities."People say I sound exactly like her," Laura admits."I think I'm more of a Type A. She's more creative than I am. She's a very caring person," her mother added.Laura also describes her mother as caring."She's always making food for people. She's going to kill herself trying to take care of the world."Although many of their recipes are different, Linda and Laura describe each other as "wonderful" cooks — listing the favorite dishes prepared.Shared recipes include a baked corn casserole, made from corn planted annually on the family's 100-acre farm.The recipe, passed down from the grandmother of Linda's husband, Dave, calls for items including "butter the size of a walnut."The women also join each summer to make fried green tomatoes, also grown on the farm.According to Linda, the most precious things the women share are Laura's three children, ranging in age from 2 to 6.Not surprisingly, Linda has taken on the name "Mom Mom" — a duplication of the name the children call her daughter.
