There is an unexpected Mother’s Day story along the interstate on Cleveland’s east side.
It is not intended to serve that purpose.
However, in talking with the Northeast Ohio college student picked by her school to be in the advertisement, I learned how, for her and her mom, it's a special reminder of a powerful gift.
You can see the billboard if you drive eastbound on I-90 near East 176th Street.
The billboard is for the University of Dayton and features three students.
One of them is Zsofi Karetka, 21. She is an engineering student at UD.
She didn't initially tell her mom, Livia Karetka, about the billboard.
"Did you keep this a secret from your mom until it went up?" I asked her over a Zoom chat.
"I did," said Zsofi Karetka with a smile.
While most people might not think twice about the billboard, it took her mom's breath away.
"I was like, 'what,'” said Livia Karetka, also on the Zoom call with us from her home in Chesterland.
Zsofi Karetka was recently in town from Dayton and used a made-up story to get her mom in the car and to drive her by the area to see the billboard.
"It was a big surprise," she said. "I wouldn’t have thought that one of our kids would end up on a billboard!”
The family would have never thought they would have been through the nightmare they survived several years ago.
For a time, her future was uncertain.
As a teenager, she was in chronic liver failure. The cause was unknown.
"Every day is a blessing," she said.
She is alive thanks to a liver transplant three years ago when she was 18.
Livia Karetka was her living donor.
"There had to have been no question in your mind, you were just like, 'Yes, take it,'” I said to her.
"Yes, sign me up," she said.
Only a small percentage of liver transplants each year are from living donors. It was a miraculous match.
“Both my husband and I were thrilled we could be donors, and what a blessing that we can because not every parent has the opportunity,” said Karetka.
She encouraged everyone to stay healthy because you never know what you may need your body for!
“She gave me life again,” said Zsofi Karetka.
So, you see, it’s not just a billboard.
“She is so selfless and so strong for me,” Karetka said about her mom.
It is also a reflection of a daughter's dedication and a mother’s endless love.
"We are beyond blessed,” said Livia Karetka. “We have four healthy children, who love coming home from college when they can to be with us, we have a great family. I always wanted to be a mom, and I love it!”
