Emeril's Breakfast in Bed Winner: Georgia Mom Mary Tyson Keeps Promise to Care for Siblings
May 6, 2011— -- A selfless woman who became a mother figure for her siblings at a young age while also later taking care of her own children, received a special treat from "Good Morning America" today as the winner of Emeril's Breakfast in Bed contest.
"GMA" and chef Emeril Lagasse and traveled to Georgia to salute and celebrate 64-year-old Mary Tyson and her loving promise to keep her family together.
"I can't believe this. I feel like a movie star," Tyson said after being surprised by Lagasse and "GMA" at her home. "Am I dreaming? Am I dreaming?"
A Promise to Take Care of the Family
While Mary Tyson currently lives in Albany, Ga., her journey toward motherhood began in 1965, in Americus, Ga. It was here where Mary's mother, Gussie Mae Hayes, was on her deathbed.
Mary's mother asked her to agree to make a promise -- "whatever you do, don't let them split my children up."
Her mother died and a year later and her father Walter died too. Mary was just 18 at the time and newly married.
In an instant, became a "mother," to her eight younger siblings. Mary and her husband Alvin took her siblings in, as they began to start their own family in an incredibly small house.
"She did just what she promised," said Mary's cousin Reetha Moore.
Through the years, Mary and Alvin had six children of their own and Mary's brothers and sisters to take care of.
But they were all treated the same.
"In her eyes, these were her siblings but they were also her children," said Mary's daughter Valorie Tyson Johnson.
Mary's siblings say to this day, they are still moved by her sacrifice that kept them all together.
"She is more than just a sister...she's a mother and I don't know where we'd be if it weren't for her, you know," said Mary's brother Chester Hayes.
"They're all we had, and they loved us. They loved us," sister Diane Johnson.
A Mother's Love
Even with so many mouths to feed on a limited income, neighbors say that Mary's kids were the best-dressed kids on the block.
She even had a morning ritual with the boys, combing their hair.
They couldn't afford to go to the local drive-in movie but Mary figured out a way to still enjoy it.
"We would park on the side of the road and just sit in the car and watch the movie…we didn't hear any sound but we enjoyed the movie!" said sister Diane Johnson.
Mary never celebrated her own birthday, and not until just a few years ago, she and Alvin have never had a honeymoon.
"I know that her mom would be so, so, so, so, so proud of her and say, 'well done, well done,'" said daughter Valorie.
