Running back Kyle Monangai pulled the ultimate youngest child move for Mother's Day this year.
Now back in Chicago for the Bears' offseason program, Monangai invited his mother, Gwen, to come spend the weekend with him and attend the annual Bears Care Gala at Soldier Field Saturday evening as his plus-one.
"Truthfully, it's Mother's Day weekend, so I was like, 'I'm gonna just be a better sibling and take her for myself and bring her to a gala,'" Kyle joked.
Kyle felt sharing the experience of attending his first Bears Care Gala, which is hosted by the club's charitable arm to raise funds to support breast and ovarian cancer research as well as treatment programs in Chicago, with his mother would make the moment extra special.
"On a serious note, I just wanted to be able to spend the whole weekend with my mom," Kyle said. "It was really an opportunity to be like, 'I have this gala and Mother's Day is the next day, so it could be cool to make it a whole weekend to spend with my mom.' She was excited to come and be a part of it."
Gwen explained her evening at Soldier Field could only be described as "surreal." It began back at Kyle's place when Gwen FaceTimed her daughter Kathy, who had picked out her mom's outfit from head-to-toe, to show her the finished product.
About an hour later, she and Kyle arrived on the orange carpet. Walking arm-and-arm onto the same field where Kyle made a name for himself as a rookie last season — as Gwen and his father, William, either watched from the Soldier Field stands or their home in New Jersey — brought out a lot of emotions for her.
"I'm so proud of him," Gwen shared. "I tell him he inspires me and he says, 'I draw my strength from you.'
"He's so caring. He's so mature for his 23 years of life and I wonder sometimes why God saw fit to send him here through me. He's such a good human. That's all I can say. I am just honored to be his mother."