Courtesy Photo

Ê KALKASKA - Kalkaska County's 2008 Mother of the Year, Malinda Hayden, of Rapid River Twp., was in Las Vegas with her husband, Cody, when she learned that she was the winner of the contest.

The letter that judges read was written by Malinda Hayden's son, Nathan, 14. The entire letter is printed at the end of this story.

"She started crying," Cody told The Leader last week from Vegas. "She definitely deserves it."

The couple left for their trip on May 1, and planned to return on May 6, Malinda's birthday.

Her mother, Nancy Fitzgerald, picked up gifts from local businesses at The Leader office on Saturday.

"It was an awesome feeling, because I'm losing out here," Malinda said. "I feel like a winner."

Malinda said that the trip was her reward for quitting smoking eight months ago.

Here is the letter that made her a winner:

Dear Leader and Kalkaskian,

This is a nomination for the Mother of the Year Award. The nomination is for Malinda Hayden, a loving mother, and a local of Kalkaska. We are her three thankful children, Nathan, 14, Alexis, 12, and Hunter, 7. I, Nathan Hayden am writing this nomination on behalf of myself and my siblings because we believe our mother has earned this award 50 times over in her course of motherhood. It is in fact one of the only things we DO agree on.

Malinda Hayden is not my and Alexis's biological mother, but she is, and always will be loved in the same way. You see when I was 4 and Alexis 2, a terrible tragedy struck our family. It was New Years Eve, 1997 when our father came through the door with the horrible news. Our biological mother had died in a heart breaking snowmobile accident. It hit our family hard.

The next two years were long and hard. It wasn't until our father started dating the most wonderful person and mother in the world that life began to get better. We had seen her from time and again, but the day see moved in, we realized the wonderful impact of her presence. Life was so much better and our father seemed happy once again. About 2 more wonderful years passed. Then, on a sunny day, we were presented with the news of a baby brother. After Hunter was born, we knew it was written in stone that we now had a new mommy. From then on, she always supported us in everything we do; be it sports or grades, this is the Mom of the Year; no, this is the Mom of the Century. She went from no kids, to 2 kids in 5. 3 seconds and filled the hole in our family' heart. It is scary to think about what we would have done without her. So here it is, the year 2008 and Mom gives more and more and asks nothing in return. So please help us give something back to this awesome person.

As we live in a wonderful home with a wonderful family, we look back on everything that our mother has done for us. She will of course never take the place of our biological mother, but she will always have a place right beside her in our hearts. I know our mother is looking down on us with a smile on her face. She must be pleased with what we have.

This is of course is a summary of the book we could write about her and her compassion for her children and her love for her family. She gave us the world and never asked for anything in return. We just hope that you also think that she deserves this award more than anyone else in the world; we certainly, with out a doubt in our minds, know this to be true. She deserves this for she will always be there and we will always love her.

We Love You MOM, and thank you for being you!!

The Hayden Kids: Nathan, Alexis, and HunterÊÊ