‘Glue Of Our Family’: Helen Yarbrough is no June Cleaver, but she is a wife, mother and grandmother who means the world to her family

Helen Yarbrough is an incredible mother to her three kids, Andrew, Lisa and Jared, and she adores her nine grandkids and six great grandkids. She loves and supports them all and puts them at the center of her world, but she has never tried to be any kind of sitcom housewife. 

Helen has always done it her own way, with no interest in projecting that type of picture-perfect image. The only opinions that mattered to her were under her own roof, which is where Helen focused her love and attention. 

She is deeply committed to her family and her husband, Rickey, and she goes out of her way to make their lives as special as she possibly can. Nothing else matters.

“She’s not like June Cleaver,” Andrew said. “She’s not that typical mom. She’s always on the edge, kind of like a rebel. She just does her own thing.”

Helen is a hard worker, fighter and survivor who always kept her focus on her children when they were young. She was also known to “adopt” other kids from around the neighborhood, who gathered at her home for parties for volleyball, homemade ice cream and to splash around on the slip-and-slide.

Helen went out of her way to make life special for everyone, including those neighborhood gatherings that were a hit for her kids. She also made sure that, no matter what was happening in her life, every holiday was a memorable event.

“She did always work really hard,” Andrew said. “She always kept clothes on our backs, and she did what she had to do to make sure we had a great Christmas and Thanksgiving.”

Helen is 69 and STILL works really hard as a caregiver for elderly patients. And in her free time, she rocks even harder as a big fan of AC/DC. Helen has always been the best, most dedicated mother and a true rock-and-roll badass who worked hard to instill the same work ethic in her kids.

Through good times and bad, Helen has always been the force that kept her family together. She demonstrated how much she cared every chance she got and was always willing to fight for herself and her family. Truly, June Cleaver had nothing on her.

“She’s a survivor and the glue of our family,” Andrew said.

Helen has never asked for anything in return, but that hasn’t stopped Andrew from trying. The only problem is, Helen remains two steps ahead of him even as an adult, and she can tell when he’s sneaking around to try and surprise her. 

In the spring, after her TV broke, Andrew went out and got her a 55-inch, 4K replacement. It was a nice gesture that Andrew was sure his mom never saw coming.

“She loved it and wasn’t expecting it, but then a couple months ago, she says, ‘I’ve got a confession to make,’” Andrew said. “She said she figured I was going to get a TV.”

Whether she knew it was coming or not, Andrew felt satisfaction in giving back to the mother who gave everything she had to him. He couldn’t have asked for anything more in a mom and a friend who is still there whenever he needs her.

“She is the greatest mom in the world,” he said. “Thank you for everything you have taught us and all the life lessons.”