Dove Chocolate showcases Villa Park mom's support for daughter

The instant support she felt from her mom made all the difference in former Villa Park resident Susan Kegel's decision to join the Air Force a decade ago.

As a 20-year-old looking for a new direction, her consideration of the military didn't receive unanimous approval. But Shelly Swanson stood behind her youngest of four children, as she always had.

"Hers was the vote that mattered," Kegel said. "I was uncertain how she was going to take it. But then, just the total peace she had and total support she gave me was so reassuring that I never doubted that it was the right choice."

Three years after the conclusion of her Air Force career, Kegel, now 30, heard of a way to honor her mom's support through the Dove Chocolate #RaisedMeToCare campaign. Her application, to be showcased in the Mother's Day social media campaign, was as instantaneous as her mother's backing of her move to join the military.

"Any chance I could get to showcase her I jumped on," Kegel said.

It didn't hurt that this chance came through a brand that sells a favorite treat.

"I'll take chocolate in any form I can get," Kegel said. "The darker the better."

So Kegel wrote up the story of how her mother, who still lives in Villa Park, has inspired her. She said her words must have inspired the folks at the Dove, too, because they chose her and her mom to be featured in a "documentary-style vignette".

Now, Kegel's praise of her mom is the subject of a 1-minute 27-second video that will be promoted on Dove Chocolate social media channels and dovechocolate.com as a way to celebrate the important role mothers play in shaping lives.

"The #RaisedMeToCare campaign is designed to help our fans show their appreciation for their moms by sharing her story with the world," Kerry Cavanaugh, brand director of Dove Chocolate, said in a news release.

Without her mom, Kegel said she wouldn't be the mother of a 5-year-old son and part-time hip-hop dance instructor she is now.

Growing up in Villa Park, Kegel said her mother always highlighted her talents and those of her siblings, never forcing one child to follow in another's footsteps. Kegel was the only one of her siblings to take piano lessons, for example. In the Dove video, she says her mother's encouragement of her love for dance "drew me out of my shell."

"Even at such a young age, she would recognize things I was good at that I didn't even recognize I was good at," Kegel said.

Now living in Racine, Kegel said she looks forward to spending Mother's Day with all of the moms in her family - especially hers - at her aunt's house.

"My mom is pretty extraordinary," Kegel said. "I don't brag about her enough."