Barbara Lawlor, Nederland. For many women, becoming a mother is a natural part of being a female, of growing up and starting a family, ready or not.

For others, becoming a mother doesn’t happen  easily, but when it does, when all one’s hopes and dreams finally come to fruition, motherhood is all it’s cracked up to be. And then some.

Last Saturday night, Nederland resident Liz Brodsky was overwhelmed with joy as her nine-year-old daughter, Elise, received a certificate of appreciation from the Nederland Food Pantry for her volunteer work over the past five years.

Beaming with pride and eyes brimming with tears, Liz watched her daughter accept a bouquet of flowers and remembered when a doctor told her that  Elise probably would not make it to birth and if she did she would be severely disabled.

Liz didn’t believe him. She refused to give up on her unborn child even though she had lost three previous children including a pair of twins to miscarriages. Liz thanks her loving, nurturing family for their unconditional love and support, especially her mother who raised her to have faith that if you believe hard enough, good things will happen.

Born in Chicago while her father attended Northwestern Medical School, Liz grew up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where her dad  opened a gastroenterology clinic. Her mother, Nancy, focused on her children, Liz and her brother and a pair of twins.

“I had an ideal childhood, “ says Liz. “We had a typical Wisconsin house with a huge yard and willow trees and we ice-skated on the local rink and my mom always did fun things with us and encouraged a sense of adventure in us.”

Her mother also sent her to an art-based preschool and the two of them loved doing art projects together. The family hosted students from other countries and her parents’ love of travel was instilled in the children.

Volunteering in the community—on the school board, the garden club and the local planned parenthood agency—were part of the family’s schedule.

When Liz was 10 years old she thought she wanted to become a radiologist, but her father convinced her she was so good at arguing that she should become a lawyer. So law school it was. She attended undergraduate work at the University of Washington and then law school in Denver and Boulder.

One night, in September of 1994, when she was standing in line at the Fox Theater in Boulder to see George Clinton and the P Funk Allstars, she gave the guy in front of her a hard time, just having some fun with him. She was 21 at the time, and Nicholas Brodsky of Nederland gave her a hard time back. He became her husband five years later. She says she was honored to wear her mother’s wedding dress for the wedding on top of a mountain outside of Gold Hill.

After graduating in 1997, she went to work for the non-profit Colorado Legal Services, working with people who couldn’t afford an attorney.

When she was 25 years old, Liz became the manager of the Boulder office, the youngest to attain that position in Colorado history. She worked with legal services until 2001 when the couple decided it was time to start a family.

“We were so excited. Being a mother had become so important to me.” When she lost her first pregnancy, Liz was devastated but emotionally prepared to try again. She lost three more pregnancies, including twins, in the next two years.

But they didn’t give up. When she became pregnant again in 2006, her doctor told her at nine weeks that the baby wasn’t growing or moving and she would probably lose her, too. But Liz didn’t believe it.

At 23 weeks, she went to see her doctor before a trip to Wisconsin and was told she was going into premature labor and was going to lose the baby.

“I was scared and sad, but didn’t believe I would lose her after coming so far.” Liz was put on bed rest and managed to hang in there for another week. At this point Elise was less than a pound and the doctor said she would either not survive or be profoundly disabled. He put Liz on medication that would slow down the process, delay the arrival of the baby.

“I told the doctor that the only thing I had control of was my attitude and said he couldn’t come in the room anymore.”

On October 20, Liz was transferred by ambulance to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Denver. Her mother flew out to be with her and she and the medical team worked hard to keep her from losing the baby. She remembers being given a medicine that didn’t look right to her and calling it to the nurse’s attention,  saying she wouldn’t take it, that it looked different. After double checking, it turned out she was right.

At the end of the each day, Liz was grateful that she and Elise had survived another 24 hours and looked forward to doing it again the next day. By this time, she had met another doctor who told her if Elise could make it to 28 weeks, there was hope.

On December 6, at 3 a.m. Elise arrived in the world, breathing on her own, weighing two pounds, seven ounces. The doctor said she couldn’t have been more healthy, given the circumstances. But it wasn’t over. Elise needed to stay in neonatal intensive care until January 15. She was fed through a tube in her nose and was on oxygen.

Liz realized, however, that the most crucial care, the most important thing was to hold her, skin to skin, all day every day, and to give her breast milk. During this time Liz rented a room in Denver to be with her constantly, which meant leaving her job. When Elise reached four pounds she was able to go home and Liz went home for the first time in three and a half months.

There were a few health issues that took their toll on Liz’s emotional and physical health as she continued making it through each day. “I went through hypnosis and worked on being positive, believing in my baby. The doctor who had been so negative came to see me and cried and apologized for saying what he did. He said he had learned so much from Elise and me.”

Sweet, snuggly Elise was held nonstop. She was a good eater, a good sleeper, and though she was at risk she never got sick. Her parents were both “over the moon” in love with her.

Until she was three years old she received physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. When she was two years old she knew 200 signs and although she was a little late in walking, she learned to speak early.

Liz began working as an advocate for abused and neglected children, which she had experience in during law school. Her proficiency in Spanish was a plus. She began doing policy work for Judge Roxanne Bailin, and on January 11, 2011, at the age of 38, she was made the Boulder 20th Judicial District Court Magistrate, working on domestic relations and presiding over adoptions.

When Elise was four years old, Liz and Nick decided they wanted another child and decided to adopt, knowing that Elise would be a wonderful older sister. “She is intuitive, sensitive, empathetic and so concerned. We didn’t want her to go through another pregnancy. She is a tough but a tender soul.”

On October 11, 2009, the Brodskys got a call from their adoption agency saying that they had been chosen by the birth mother to adopt Ben. He was nine days old; and since then there has been an open relationship between Liz and Nicholas and the birth mother. Ben attends Caribou PreSchool and likes to pretend he’s a dog and sit in Elise’s lap.

Elise says “He’s an adorable bundle of joy. I remember thinking, ‘my baby brother is not growing in my mommy’s tummy, or my tummy, or my daddy’s tummy, but is growing in someone’s tummy who we don’t even know.”

When Ben arrived and when Elise got over her cold and was able to hold him, she put on a beautiful dress, put barrettes in her hair, put on some lip gloss, and gathered him in her arms.

“She is nothing short of a phenomenal big sister,” says Liz.

“Sometimes it’s hard, but Ben is actually never short of amazing,” says Elise. “I like to hug him and tell him it’s all, all right. My mom tells me to persevere, to stand up for others and myself and help my community. She also supports me in everything I love to do and gives out the right amount of consequences.”

Elise says her mom always tries to interact with everyone and says everyone can be a friend. The mother and daughter volunteer time organizing an annual children’s book drive for the Read to Children Program at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility and they also organize and facilitate the annual National Adoption day celebration for the 20th Judicial District. Recently, students from Elise’s fourth grade class attended a mock trial at the Boulder Justice Center which was hosted by Liz.

Being a family means as much to Liz as it did to her mother, who always taught her that family was the most important thing in life. The Brodskys have adopted a Joy Initiative, which came from realizing one night that dinner time had been spent trying to get the kids to eat their food, rather than focusing on the joy of being together. “We decided to live each day with the attitude of ‘don’t sweat the small stuff.’ We put out a family platter with food they can choose and try to enjoy time together.”

Liz’s mother has been her inspiration. They have spent every Christmas together, except for two, and see each other at least three times a year. A tremendous role model, Liz’s mom devoted her life to her children and gave them a foundation of love and belief in themselves, with the appropriate amount of freedom.

Although it seems as if things couldn’t get any better for this Nederland mom, she says that it isn’t the right time just yet, but she and Nicholas have discussed bringing foster children into the family. She says it is definitely on the horizon.

Mother’s Day will find Liz, Nicholas, Elise, and Ben out hiking and getting ready for the Neder-Nederland in the fall. The kids will work hard to keep their secret: all the gifts they have been making for their mom in recent weeks.

It will be a great day, just like all the others that have gone before.