Single mom first, state senator second
Maida Coleman put her kids before her political career
By Meliqueica Meadows
For the St. Louis
All three of state Sen. Maida Coleman’s children agree: their mom always puts others first, and that’s what they love most about her.
“She puts people first, and she’s one of those kind of people that will go out of her way to help other people,” John Harrington, Coleman’s oldest son said.
“She always tries to help people. Especially if someone’s getting violated or something’s happening that’s not right, she always makes a point to stand up for them.”
Coleman’s 25-year-old daughter Alaina said she will tell her own children that her mother was “always putting others above herself.”
“She’s very determined,” James, the youngest child, said of his mother. “She puts a lot of love and effort into our lives.”
“I think each of my children have such amazingly different personalities. Therefore, dealing with them keeps me on my toes,” Coleman said.
“John is a sucker for a sob story. He has great charisma, but he used to bring home every stray animal and person he ran into. John is the great people person.
“Alaina has a very critical eye and is very opinionated about things. She will call a person out. So I had to always make sure I was setting a good example for the children, because she would be the one that would bring anything that wasn’t kosher to your attention.”
Of her youngest son, Coleman said, “James is the lover-boy. He’s very attentive and is very caring. He is my defender.”
All three children followed individual paths. James attended college in Baltimore, Alaina studied and worked in Japan for over a year, and John is busy traveling as a musician, but their mother manages to keep the family close despite hectic and often conflicting schedules.
“She always made sure we all got together every month or two and stayed in touch through e-mail. She would call us all on three-way,” Harrington said.
He said his favorite childhood memory of his mother was when she made a Halloween costume for him with little money when he was nine.
“She was working two jobs and going to school, we had no money and she was raising me by herself,” he recalled.
“All my friends had brand new Halloween costumes and she made me a space suit from scratch, and everybody liked it better than what they bought.”
“I enjoy nurturing and providing for my children, and they’re all very wonderful children,” Coleman said. “I’m really proud that they are my kids.”
She also is grateful to her children for the direction they provided in her life.
“Children keep you sharp and they keep you focused,” Coleman said. “That’s what my children have provided me: the opportunity to set goals.”
One of her goals was to become a legislator. But, being a single mother, Coleman’s every decision was based on the welfare of her children.
“I’ve been single for 21 years now, so all that I’ve ever done in these 21 years has been based on what would be good for them,” she said.
“That’s why I didn’t run for public office until the last child (James) had gone off to college. I’d always wanted to be a legislator, but I felt that it was important to make sure that my three kids were raised and were on their own.”
