What about all those other women who seem close enough to call Mom?

What about the ones who go beyond your bloodline but are nothing short of family?

Given the chance to declare their love for their hanai moms, readers flooded us with responses. Here are some of their letters:

Prayer answered

"The day my in-vitro triplets were born, my family no longer fell into the 'average' category," wrote Noelani Ross of Kane'ohe. "There was a tremendous amount of work to do, and I certainly didn't want to burden others with the task."

Two months into the game, her husband was ready to throw in the towel. He had a terrible case of post-partum blues and even called the doctor and said: "I want to return these 'things.' Absolutely NO exchanges! At this point, I don't even care about a refund."

"But, God was greater than our circumstances," Ross wrote, "and I realized I needed to accept offers of help."

Enter Esther Kaneshiro, who had retired and was doing church ministry. Her words to Ross were: "Noe, the Bible tells us that women need to help each other in raising our children. That's what we're here for." What started out as an offer of respite for an exhausted couple turned into an abundance of blessings. Esther and her husband have become hanai grandparents to Kahi, the youngest of the triplets.

Esther's son, Jerry, inherited his parents' heart for unconditional giving, Ross said. He and his wife, Danielle, offered to help Esther watch the triplets and Jerry ended up becoming a "Mister Mom" to one of them, Kamoana.

"Finally, there's Patti Ponimoi." Ross said. "She and her husband, Dean, have four children of their own, and it was love at first sight the day they first cared for Keaouli, first born of the triplets. For me, it was an answer to a prayer.

"I read somewhere 'honoring is accomplished by treasuring and remembering.' This Mother's Day, I honor Esther Kaneshiro, Jerry Kaneshiro and Patti Ponimoi (and their families) who have helped raise and mother my children. Not all kids are fortunate enough to have a mom with them to celebrate Mother's Day. In my case, my children will always have the joy of looking up to each of these people as though she/he were 'mom.' How thankful I am that forever they will have plenty of family in their lives."

50 years of love, guidance

Two Kane'ohe sisters, Jan Medeiros and Emilye Gubby Kaluhiokalani Heinicke, wrote independently about a special woman in their lives, Marecia "Mary" Magno:

"She has been blessing my life for about 50 years, since I was 8 years old. She was a beautiful city girl who married a country boy from Kane'ohe," said Medeiros. "When my parents divorced, she always made sure we had food, clothes or company and we were safe. She had three beautiful children yet made much time for me and my siblings. Each school year I had a brand-new dress and shoes. She helped me during the teen years to put on makeup and dress properly. She always asked that we 'leave a little for the imagination' in dressing. When I married, she told me 'to always have a meal on the stove or table for your husband' no matter the circumstances. My husband of 37 years, who passed last year, was appreciative of her wisdom. She just turned 70 in March. She is a gem, and we honor her as often as possible."

Her sister added:

"Mary was our neighbor family, and we would watch her children. For me, it was like playing house with the small babies. She and her husband (deceased now) would have us over for sit-down meals. They had a flushing toilet and a TV. She would teach manners and hygiene, right from wrong, how to share, kindness and love and to know that we have a Lord above. She was there when I got married along with my other siblings. She is still with us today, and we share lots of laughs and good times."

Abundance of hugs, attention

Across the Islands, there are people like that who have lent a hand to those who needed family.

One of those people is Aki Uechi of Hawai'i Kai. She goes to church with Mary Hunter of Makakilo.

"Aki had a child long ago, a baby girl," Hunter wrote. "But the baby was born prematurely and died before Aki could hold her in her arms. Instead of becoming bitter, Aki decided to become better. She wouldÊnever be a biological mom, so she decided to be a hanai mom to everyone she knew."

Aki mothers, spoils and loves every "kid" in the church, Hunter said, from the single military guys with no families to the littlest of babies. She takes the teenagers out to lunch and the movies.

"Even those of us who are moms and dads ourselves, she loves and hugs and dotes on," said Hunter. "Recently we became foster parents to drug babies. Each baby is presented to Aki when we get him or her, and Aki hugs them and cries. There is no way under any situation that these babies could get so much love and hugs and attention. Aki Uechi is a truly amazing hanai mother."

MARILYN MEERS

ADELE YOUNG

Others wrote to show appreciation to women they love as much as the ones who gave birth to them.

It will be Aurora Johnson's fourth Mother's Day without mom Victoria R. Rol, but the 'Aiea woman is thankful for Marilyn Meers of Kane'ohe, who's always there to bend an ear and offer encouragement.

Ardelle ViviŽnne Robinson feels the same way about Adele Young.

"When we met, I had the opportunity to work with her, and our relationship just took off," Robinson wrote. "In no time, we had grown into a hanai relationship that still goes strong. She didn't want me to call her "Mrs. Young" (too formal, she said), and I surely was not comfortable calling her "Adele" (too disrespectful, I thought), so I started calling her "Mama," and it stuck."

And Fannie "Kamakolu" Gilman of Kane'ohe remembers the late Mary Kawena Pukui, the woman she lovingly called her "Tutu Haole," the woman who "showed me love and taught me how to respect others, and to be humble and compassionate, to be prayerful and kind."

More than a nurse

It was as a cancer patient that Don Martin of Kapolei discovered his "new mother," Dr. Pat Nishimoto, the head oncology nurse at Tripler.

"Pat is much more than a nurse," he wrote. "She is your friend, fiery supporter and full-time source of TLC." Ten years after his first diagnosis, Nishimoto was warm and reassuring from the start and is still there to hold hands and hearts, he said.

Lunchtime chats

Working at a downtown law firm, legal secretary Lynda M. Sasaki misses her co-worker, Elaine Honda, who retired in 1998.

"She still keeps in touch with occasional phone calls and cards, just like a mom," said Sasaki. "When we talk, it's like no time has lapsed."

Sasaki misses their lunchtime walks to Chinatown for groceries or strolls around 'Iolani Palace and the Capitol building, when they'd talk about work and families.

"She would tell me stories about her growing-up days in Mo'ili'ili (where I, too, grew up once upon a time), or about her boys and grandchildren, and of course she spoke so lovingly about her best friend, her husband," Sasaki remembers. "I loved listening to her many stories. I hope she knows she has touched my life very deeply and I think of her always, just like a mom."

Special mother-in-law

Even mothers-in-law should be in the category of honored moms, said Karen Muessig of Hickam Air Force Base.

"We call each other almost daily and share the same warped sense of humor," she said. Muessig's Air Force husband is in Virginia for training. And while she's holding down the fort with three kids at home, guess who's coming to the rescue? Her mother-in-law.

"Back in 2000, when my husband was deployed to Turkey, she came to help," Muessig said. "When I fell down the stairs, breaking bones in my foot, she came to help, and she had to cook that time. That's a real sacrifice. We have so much fun together. I truly love my mother-in-law. How many people can say that?"

Deepest mahalo

Scott Draper of Kailua met Maxine Cole in 1972, shortly after he "got off the boat" in Hawai'i.

"Both she and her husband, Bob, took me under their wing and have provided me and my family with so much aloha and love that we have become a true family together," he wrote. "With her help and guidance, I have become a successful father, businessman and all-around good person, something that would have been much more difficult to achieve without her help. I love this lady with all my heart, and I want to wish her the happiest Mother's Day and express my deepest gratitude for all she has done for me. I love you, Max!"

Diane Martini, left, and Auntie Dawn Wasson met three years ago. Writes Martini: "What we do not share in blood we share in spirit." Photo courtesy of Diane Martini

Diane Martini also had someone looking out for her when she moved to Hawai'i three years ago. It was Auntie Dawn Wasson, her makuahine hanai.

"I had no family here, and without hesitation she made her family my own," said Martini, of Hale'iwa. "She is the most beautiful woman I know besides my own biological mother. Her spirit is strong, her heart is big and her mind is sharp. She knows when I am hurting and when I need guidance. I can call her any time of day or night but usually she gets to me first with her motherly 'sixth sense.' I will hear the horn honk in the driveway and that familiar 'hui' cry, and there she is with a warm hug and her knowing ways. What we do not share in blood we share in spirit."

Mother's best friend

Lottie McAteer of Waikiki is originally from Alabama. Her mother died in 1956 from a massive stroke at the age of 48. Her mom's best friend, Mae McConnell, became her "adopted" mother and has been "Mother Mc" all these years. "Mother Mc" will be 96 this summer and still lives alone in Marbury, Ala. McAteer reports she's in good health, has most of her teeth, trusts God with any ailment and plays piano at church each week.

"She has been a great influence in my life, and I feel so loved by this wonderful lady," McAteer wrote. "I honor her every Mother's Day and all year long. All these years she has never failed to send Christmas gifts and birthday cards to me. She is truly another mother, or hanai, to me."

LORI 'ORLEE KELIIPAAKAUA

Amie De Freitas of Pearl City has two women to thank.

"Their names are Lori 'Orlee' Keliipaakaua and Wanda 'Ravishing Ruby' Matlock," she said. "Orlee is my aunt and Ravishing Ruby is my gramma. They have taken care of me better than anyone else ever could. They make sure that I am happy, healthy and taken care of before they take care of themselves. They have let me live with them, helped me get jobs, helped me get a car and made sure that my wedding was the most wonderful experience I have ever had. I am so happy to have them in my life."

Aloha-shirt advice

Even people on the Mainland have adopted "Island Mommas." Just ask Nick Tan of San Francisco.

Arlene Tanaka of Manoa works for one of his clients. Her maternal instincts kicked in as soon as she saw Tan's aloha shirts that had a life of their own.

"With her famous grin and a few chuckles, she quietly whispered directions to Liberty House for me to get something a little tamer that would not scare away my clients," Tan wrote. "While she has a quiet, content demeanor, she is by no means your normal, run-of-the-mill motherly figure. Arlene is big into holistic health and is sure that she possesses an abnormal amount of electrical energy. She is hoping one day to gather enough electricity to fry her workstation so it will never work again."

The jokesters now spend time together outside of work.

"Arlene and her husband have taken me to all of their favorite places to eat, and she gets a big kick out of watching me try new foods," Tan said.

His "Island Momma" also sends the little things that mean so much — a Spam musubi maker, a non-stick rice scoop Tan has never seen in California, Hawaiian coffee that was on special at Longs, and the promise of the "best" pre-made poke mix.

"My Island Momma and her husband never had children but they are definitely some of the most thoughtful people of all time," Tan said. "I'd like to dedicate this Mother's Day to my Island Makuahine. ... Thanks for taking care of me all these years."

Experiences shared

For Maureen H. Williams of Alexandria, Va., the shout-out goes to Lucy Molloy from Ala Moana.

"Lucy is a person to whom people are drawn by some inner spirit," said Williams. "She has shared my experiences as a career woman, wife and mother of a 3-year-old. In fact, Lucy has graduated to the responsibility of being a hanai grandma to my daughter."

Although Williams lives 5,000 miles away, she says she always feels a connection to the woman who has reassured and inspired her.

"Whoever said that blood is thicker than water certainly did not know Lucy," Williams said.

Gracious and caring

Some women just seem to be there for others like big sisters who fill a motherly role for their friends.

Cheri Keefer of Honolulu wrote about Carolyn Wilcox, her hanai mom who greets her every morning with a smile at the Honolulu Club.

"Although I have a wonderful mother in Kansas, I am very close to, I feel honored to have Carolyn Wilcox here in Hawai'i to talk to daily," she wrote. "Carolyn is only 14 years older than I am but has that warm, loving and caring image of a gracious mother. We could easily be sisters or girlfriends."

Keefer respects Wilcox's opinions, and says Wilcox is a great listener with a sense of humor.

"Carolyn will be retiring from work soon, and I hope she still gets up early to work out at the club or my days might not continue to begin so successfully," said Keefer. "Hanai is loving and sharing a feeling with each other or being there when a dear one needs you."

A 'at-work mom'

Rachelle Yamamoto of 'Ewa Beach also has a daily dose of thanks for her "at-work mom," Novella Barros, for her support, kind words, loving encouragement, positive criticism and ear for venting.

"I've known my 'worka-mom' for more than four years, and although she's not really old enough to be my mom, she has been just as great as the real thing," Yamamoto wrote. "I come to her with my problems, and she helps me think them through. I come to her for advice, and she listens to my confusion. I ask for help, and she never turns me away. I often listen in on her phone conversations with her kids and imagine what a happy life they must have had with a mother so understanding and wise. Let me tell you, she's one tough cookie, too. Somehow she managed to raise three kids, hold down two jobs, buy a home, and now she's caring for her elderly parents — plus, she's the glue that keeps our office running smoothly. Without her, my sanity would have gone a long time ago."

Yamamoto said she's proud to know Barros, who inspired her to be an independent woman: "As I observe her as days go by, I think to myself, 'Wow, I wanna be just like her.' "

The elegant 'haole lady'

Still others have a deep sense of gratitude for people who have chosen to take them in as family and forever changed each other's lives.

Rose "Rosita" Calma's parents came from the Philippines and started a coffee farm on the slopes of mauka Kona. As the youngest of nine, her early years were days in the coffee land. At the age of 9, life changed and she became an orphan.

"It was a confusing and difficult time to live with an older sister and not knowing where I belonged," Calma wrote.

Through a counselor at school, she met Marilyn Parker.

"She was this tall elegant 'haole lady,' " Calma wrote. "I agreed to live with her family of four children and be a 'mother's helper.' My first day at this 'haole house' was terrifying, a new surrounding, a different lifestyle. I cried the first night there, but it did not last long. Marilyn took me in as one of the children. As a teenager, she gave me the courage and support to try new things with love and encouragement. I am now a professional nurse with a husband, home and good friends. Marilyn is now at a difficult time in her life (in end-stage cancer). I want to let her know how important she has been in my life. Without her, I would not have been the person I am today. Thank you, Marilyn, for being 'my hanai mother' for all you have given to me."