We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to share the best stories about their mothers-in-law... and they really came through!
Head's up: you may want to have some tissues handy before you read these.
1. The all-star advocate.
"My mother-in-law didn't just accept me as her son's spouse, she loved me and was kind to me. She baked me my first homemade birthday cake. When we adopted our first son, she never treated him as unequal. She filled the 'mom' vacancy and taught our son about uncompromising love, compassion and how to bake a mean chocolate chip cookie. We adopted our second son through social services. She's devoted to him as no woman ever has been. She's fearless, honorable, and gracious. She does good and advocates for everyone in her life because that's the right thing to do." —Sean Mckeown-Young, Facebook
2. The best friend.
"My future mother-in-law is seriously the sweetest person ever. She not only got me a job when I couldn't find one, but she is letting my fiancé and me live with her while we save up money for a home. She encouraged me all throughout college and gave me the push I needed to go get my teaching license. While we do have our disagreements, she honestly is my best friend (besides my fiancé), and I don't know what I'd do without her." —Carrie Ellen Westerfield, Facebook
3. The amazing ex.
"This is actually about my EX-mother-in-law, which tells you what a great person she is. Years ago, when my daughter was young, she stopped by our house to drop something off. My house was atrocious — stuff all over the place, dog hair all over everything, it was bad. I apologized for the house being a mess and she actually said, 'You shouldn't worry about it. You have more important things to do than clean your house.' I still tell people that story and they are amazed." — Elizabeth Gray, Facebook
4. The welcoming-but-stern one.
"My future mother-in-law has been accepting and loving from the first day we met. She came into my work, Dunkin Donuts. I went up introduced myself and she gave me a big hug. When I sat down to ask for her daughter's hand in marriage she smiled and said she knew I was the right one for her daughter, that she had never seen her daughter so happy, and she expected me to ask pretty soon anyway. She's always made me feel welcome in her family but has known when to be stern when she's seen me make mistakes. We've had some really great times together and am looking forward to many more!" —Todd Raulli Laidlaw, Facebook
5. The one who literally keeps it cool.
"My fiancé told me her parents had kind of a hard time with her coming out, so I was nervous about meeting her parents. It turned out my apprehension was unfounded, as Bonnie (my mother-in-law) was warm and welcoming from the first time we met. Since then she has been generous helping us pay for our wedding, planning our joint bridal showers, she's given us money the money we were short getting a new place, she's given us stuff we needed for the new place, and most recently bought us an a/c because after buying one for the living room we couldn't afford another one for the other bedroom. I am so grateful for such a wonderful woman, who I love as a second mother." —Lyndsay Oxenberg, Facebook
6. The welcoming one.
"She immediately accepted me into their family, even before my husband and I were engaged. Although I am atheist and she is Christian, she accepts me and my beliefs just as they are. During our wedding planning, she took me wedding dress shopping so we could bond, and threw a beautiful bridal shower for me complete with a cake that she made that looked like a beach to match our wedding. She invited their whole family so I could get to know everyone prior to becoming an official member of the family. She was there every step of the way supporting us, and still is long after our wedding. After I recently got into a car accident, she checked on me frequently and sent me a bouquet of flowers my first day back at work." —Stacy Haggard, Facebook
7. The super supportive one.
"During our journey to conceive and then adopt, mother-in-law remained quiet but supportive. After giving her a book about infertility and adoption, she finally opened up. She had questions but didn't want to hurt our feelings because my husband had told her that I had gotten in an argument with my own mother about the situation As we still struggle through the long process of adoption, she has remained a supportive sounding board for our frustrations. I love her and I couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law." —Jennifer Johnson, Facebook
8. The non-judgmental one.
"Well, if nothing else, this woman got me out of jail by paying all of my fines and THEN paid for my license AND THEN still allowed me to date her daughter, amongst many many other things. Without her I would not be the man I am today. Damn, she's awesome!" —Pher
9. The social butterfly.
"After our wedding, I left a job I loved and moved halfway across the country to my husband's home state. Jill immediately rolled out the welcome wagon; we returned from our honeymoon to an immaculately-cleaned house, a bottle of champagne, and a sweet card. Since then, Jill has always made my new state feel like home. Every month, she invites me to her family breakfasts, and after we gorge ourselves, we have fun running errands and catching up on life together. Jill has been generous enough to introduce me to her countless, fantastic friends, and has even volunteered to help me sell my handmade crafts at art shows on the weekends. When my husband had to be out of town for my birthday several years ago, she got friends together and hosted a dinner for me at my favorite restaurant. When I was working on my first novel, Jill volunteered to be one of my first readers, and she offered some of the most thorough editing advice I have received. Jill makes my life better in so many ways." —BWBailey
10. The one who showed love with food.
"I live in New Zealand, but I am originally from Brazil. When my mother in law met me she asked me what I missed most about my home country, so I told her it was food. I missed mom's, nanna's, dad's cooking. And since my partner is a vegetarian, I missed specially meat. Roast chicken was something I hadn't had in three years. So, next time I visited, she had an amazing free range roast chicken, roast veggies and gravy for me. I felt really special and I knew then that I had been welcomed to the family." —marinas49b92d8e5
11. The one who spoils her loved ones.
"I went through a terrible divorce with an abusive man and was left alone with my four children. I didn't think I would ever turn another man's head. Then I met my (now) husband, who loved my children and me as his own. I was so nervous to meet his family — what mother in their right mind would want their son to be with a divorced mother of four with a stalker of an ex-husband?! Well, not only did she treat me like a daughter-in-law from day one, she accepted my four children as her grand-babies and hasn't stopped spoiling them, and me, since." —ashleymatteson00
12. The one who was willing to take in the cat, too.
"My mother-in-law is great! When my husband was deployed for eight months, she let me move in with my dog and cat and live with them rent-free. My in-laws were not cat people to begin with, but they were sad to see my cat go when my husband returned. I am grateful that she gave me a free place to live, and support while my husband was away. None of my friends could understand how I could live with my mother-in-law for that long, but I am lucky to have such a good relationship with her." —ellens41be634c2
13. The one who knows free booze is the best.
"Well, my mother-in-law is awesome just because she is a cool person. She didn't get me through hard times, push me through college or whatever, but from day one she was always super kind and has given me free beers, wine, and food, and isn't free booze what we all want? Also, we don't speak a language in common, so she always just hugged me and fed me to show me she is happy I am with her son." —Suzie Bertrand, Facebook
14. The thoughtful librarian.
"She is a librarian, and whenever we go back to Massachusetts to visit for the holidays, she checks out books she thinks I will enjoy." trickybrit
15. The open-minded one.
"Being in a same-sex relationship, there was a huge amount of shyness and anxiety the first time my girlfriend brought me home to meet her parents. But I clearly remember walking in and seeing her parents with huge smiles and open arms. My girlfriend's mom isn't only hilarious, fun-loving, and generous, but she is very open-hearted and she completely embraced me into not only her daughter's life, but hers and the rest of the family as well!" —alisonm40b290f62
16. The one who was there when Mom couldn't be.
My mother-in-law is from Brazil and started calling me her daughter (in Portuguese) before my now-husband ever proposed. When my mother passed away right before our wedding, my mother-in-law took it upon herself to support me in every way that my mother would have. No one cried harder than my mother-in-law at my mom's memorial service; she was mourning my loss for me and, as she told me later, mourning the loss of a new best friend. My mother-in-law has welcomed my father to every family event, and calls me to see how I'm doing. I love my mother in law and I'm so glad I have her to support me through my first Mother's Day without my mom." —kristinf44080c3ab
17. The seriously generous one.
"She's done some of the kindest things for me through the years. She took care of me one Christmas when I suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage on Christmas Day. When money was tight and I had small children, wanting a newer sewing machine to be able to make clothing for them and decorate our new home, she sent me a check for a new machine of a better quality than I'd been wanting. There's never been a time when I couldn't count on her, more than many people in my family of origin." —suzanneharpert
18. The one who will be there at the drop of a hat.
"When my doctors told me they had to perform a crash c-section at just under 26 weeks, she was at the hospital before I was out of surgery. She calls to check in on me all the time, and we are never on the phone for less than an hour. She even lent us money to move when we lost our apartment because of my son's early birth and the involved expenses, and she didn't use it as leverage to get us to move closer to her. She's amazing." —Lyssa Kreisel, Facebook
19. The one who stepped in during a rough transition.
"A month before my husband and I closed on our first home, we took in three foster children, and ended up having to move into our new home, and make the kids switch schools AGAIN a month later. To make moving matters worse, it snowed on moving weekend! She called Sunday night (knowing we had tried to make trips in our SUV, and one of the kids had puked several times), and said they would drive the four hours up Monday, be at our new house, and help my husband move while I was at work. I came home to my kitchen being perfectly unpacked, dinner made, and beds set up! Took away a lot of stress for an instant family of five!" —sherrikeith4
20. The one who kicks ass at beer pong.
"My mother-in-law is the coolest. The first time I met her, we both got trashed at a concert and we've been BFFs ever since. She is a killer beer pong teammate and always down to have fun. Whenever my husband is being a complete idiot she's the first person I call because she is the only other person to really understand who I'm dealing with." —melgol
21. The one who knows just what to say.
"When we all went to a family funeral and I spent the entire day struggling to keep my toddler quiet and respectful (in the Florida heat, while pregnant), she sent me a note later that week telling me what a good mother I was. When I went into labor with my second baby in the middle of the night, she was there to be with our firstborn within the hour, and stayed with her until we came home two days later." —emilybournek
22. The one who understands Army life.
"My husband is in the Army and she was one of the few people who understood what those painful goodbyes felt like. A month after our wedding, I moved in with my in-laws while my husband was deployed overseas. She provided me with not only rent-free living but a car so I didn't have to walk or ride the bus to work anymore. She would always think about me on holidays — Valentine's was met with chocolates, perfume, and a card." —caitlinc48ce316bd
23. The best baby-sitter.
"We live in Atlanta, several hours away from family, and we just had a baby. We didn't think we'd get much help from family, but we were wrong. My MIL didn't want us putting our son in day care at a young age, so she came up with a solution: she'd live with us during the week and take care of our son (and our giant silver lab, Lucy), then drive 2.5 hours back to Augusta on the weekends. She is AWESOME and our son adores her. She helps us clean, cook, AND get up with the baby in the middle of the night. She's been doing this since JANUARY. I'm a teacher, so I'll be off for the summer in a few weeks… at that point, I guess she'll leave for good. She's been fantastic." —katherineburdickr
24. The one who bakes just because.
"My mother-in-law is probably the kindest person I know… and she makes me fresh bread every time I see her." —sarahr4f207fc2c
Submissions have been edited for length/clarity. Thumbnail image of Kanye West and Kris Jenner: Noel Vasquez / Getty Images.