A Christmas Story: A Mother’s Love Impacts a Journalism Career
Shirley Marie Ceaser, 1940-2025
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
Today would have been my mother’s 85th birthday.
There’s something special about “Christmas babies” and Shirley Marie Ceasar was indeed that. This, unfortunately, will be the first Christmas I won’t be able to tell her Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas in person.
Mama died on Nov. 10 at Baptist Hospital of Southeast Texas in Beaumont after nearly two weeks in the intensive care unit, surrounded by me and twin brothers Gregory and Gordon Hughes, Sr. I don’t know life without her.
Mama had one request (demand) on this day – come with a Birthday present and a Christmas present. No excuses. We always complied with love. She was the most generous, loving and caring person I knew. She never gave up on people, a trait that she passed along to me.
Read Obituary for Shirley Marie Ceaser here.
I grew up a stutterer, and she was my comfort and safe space when others made fun of me. Few things made her switch into “Mama Bear Mode” faster than that. I swore I would make her proud of me one day when she would no longer have to spend her time defending me.
I’ve never really felt that i reached that point. Sure, I would become a journalist, travel the country, sit on the NABJ national board of direction, work in public relations at a Big Ten university. I didn’t know how she felt about any of that until a trip to her home in Beaumont several years ago before she moved into an assisted living facility.
One of my brothers showed me one of Mama’s keepsake boxes. There, Mama had cut out and saved what looked like every story I had written for the Beaumont Enterprise, my first newspaper job out of college in my hometown. I think she had a better collection of my stories than the newspaper itself.
Later, a neighbor came by. Recognizing I was the new face in the home visiting, she said, “Oh, you must be the newspaper reporter Shirley talks about.”
“Yes, he is,” Mama said with a wide smile and a subtle laugh. I realized she was no longer defending me (and probably hadn’t for some time) and was actually bragging on me. It was humbling to realize just how much joy my writing brought her.
I would go on to name and fund a communications scholarship in her and my father’s name at Lamar University, my alma mater. During a gala for scholarship donors and recipients Lamar’s Montagne Center, the first scholarship awardee walked up to thank me. I pointed him to Mama and said, “No. Don’t thank me. Thank her.”
A little bit of context here. My mother dropped out of high school to have my oldest brother. Yet, she was the rock of our family and taught me so many lessons of love, compassion and family unity that it would bewilder Dr. Phil. We were sitting here at the glitzy gala and I believed Mama was one of the smartest in the room.
Even as I write this, I pray this small missive has done her some justice. There is just so much to tell about this amazing woman and how her love for everyone was so limitless. I get it. No one loves you like your mother. They are our first friend, maid, drill sergeant, etc.
Front Runner New Jersey.com would not be here without her love. I have not received a single award without her to thank profusely. When I tell your stories, part of her is always at the other end of the keyboard. She will be a part of me and my brothers forever. Thank you for reading.
About Author
