What led me to this interview: Jason Williams’ mom, Althea Williams is someone that was on my dream list for this podcast from the start. My husband, Chris Reilly, played basketball with Jason as kids and so for years, I have heard Chris and his family sing the praises of Jason and specifically his vibrant mom, Althea. Jason has had such an incredible career and more importantly, I knew that Jason and his family were honorable, positive, and happy people because of the hours of ball games that my husband had experienced with them.
Althea is like a walking quote book! She shared one powerful insight after another and at the end of our conversation I felt inspired and better equipped as a momma!
Althea has thought a lot about parenting and her role and you can feel her thoughtfulness as she and I spoke. She spoke positively to Jason throughout his life and would recite mottos to him like “Attitude determines your altitude,” and “You must maintain a positive attitude to achieve your goals.” It is powerful to have a momma giving you positive messages like this regularly.
She also held her son accountable and cared a great deal about instilling great character. When she saw her young son make mistakes she not only held him accountable, but she also looked inward to see what ways she could have been a better momma. Her humility and desire to be a great momma were obvious during every minute of our conversation.
As Jason grew up, Althea was mindful of the people who surrounded Jason. She wanted her son to see great people with good character and she wanted positivity to surround her son. Like all mommas, we know that at a certain point we have to let our children make their own decisions, but if you know they are surrounded by good people then there is greater hope that good decisions will be made.
Among all the terrific advice Althea gave, she ended with one last point for mommas, do not lose yourself. It struck me to hear that from this legendary momma. It is easy to lose yourself in motherhood, but it is also important to show your children who YOU are as a momma. We are mommas, wives, daughters, friends, explorers, builders, givers, bakers, athletes…whoever you are is important and I learned that from the sensational Althea Williams! Althea is one wonderful momma!
