One day Dr. Aston, a widower with three grown sons, went on a blind date. She turned out to be Muffie Potter, a tantalizing gorgeous divorcee.

By the time they got to Madison Square Garden, for a Barbra Streisand concert, he was convinced that he wanted to spend time with this woman.

"Hold on a minute," Muffie said. She was reluctant only to date and have a good time. "I intend to be a mother one day and if I don’t do that I will consider myself a failure."

Muffie and Sherrell married. After six failed pregnancies Muffie got her wish. Six years ago they welcomed twin daughters into their life, Bracie Potter and Ashleigh Tatiana.

In March the American Cancer Society of New York honored Muffie Potter Aston at its Mothers of the Year 2011 Award Luncheon at the Plaza Hotel. The second honoree was a prominent cancer surgeon, Dr. Freya Schnable.

Dr. Aston related with much pride how Muffie blended gracefully her social life and philanthropic endeavors with her deep devotion to motherhood.

"Muffie’s been a hands-on mother," he said. "The happiest times of her life are when she’s with the girls. They come first in her life. When she comes late to an event, it’s not to be fashionably late. It’s because she makes sure the girls are fed before she leaves home. Muffie is not a tiger — she’s a lioness."

Aston was accompanied by Bracie and Ashleigh as he presented the Mother of the Year Award to his wife.

"It doesn’t get any better than that," Muffie said.

"Motherhood is a heartfelt battle to achieve. It did not come easily. But I would do it all over again. It’s an incredible journey. Like all mothers, we’ve altered our lives in innumerable ways. It has never been a sacrifice. Rather, it has been an endeavor that is indescribable in its capacity to bring joy, and compelling in its nature to evoke the strongest of emotions to behold."

Muffie often tells her kids she loves them.

"We know, mommy."

"How do you know?"

"Mommy, you keep telling us every day."

"Well, girls, your mommy is going to continue to tell you that I love you every day no matter how tired you may grow of hearing it, as I will never grow tired of saying it."

Through Ashleigh and Bracie’s curious eyes, Muffie rediscovers even the most simple things all over again. "I am enthralled and awestruck at the things my daughters do and say," she said. "They get me to think about things I’ve never thought about."

One night lying in bed together, Ashleigh and Bracie (three years old at the time) said they had a very important question. They wanted to know if heaven lay above or below the planetary system.

"I was quite surprised by the existential nature of the question and I said, well, girls, I believe heaven would probably lay above all the planets."

At this point they said "phew!" and "thank goodness." They said they were relieved that heaven and the angels were above all the planets, so that the angels would not get caught in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Earth.

"I kissed my daughters and told them not to worry about any more asteroids for tonight. I realized that night that my girls would teach me as much or perhaps even more than I could ever teach them.

Muffie’s parents, Dr. John and Tanya Potter, are very proud of their indefatigable daughter, granddaughters and, of course, son-in-law. Her father was chief of Oncologic surgery at Georgetown University, where he founded the Lombardi Cancer Center. Currently he is the founder and director of the United States Military Cancer Institute in Washington.

Her mother was the first chairperson of the volunteer fundraising efforts for the American Cancer Society’s Washington chapter.

Continuing the legacy of her family, Muffie is a board member of the Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the corporate chair of the Alzheimer’s Association Rita Hayworth Gala Steering Committee. An dynamic philanthropist, Muffie is a champion of many other charitable and humanitarian causes.

Model Patti Hansen, wife of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, and a bladder cancer survivor, presented a Mother of the Year Award to her doctor, the preeminent Freya Schnabel. An Alpha Omega Alpha graduate of the NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Schnabel is professor and director of breast surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center.

"I met Freya ten years ago," Hansen said. "I needed surgery and I decided to put all my trust in her. We grew into a relationship that will last a lifetime. Freya is a single mother of two girls. She loves music, but she loves my husband’s music best."

Dr. Schnabel said, "What keeps us going is that our children and the next generation will make it better. They provide that optimism that keeps us going."

Among the 330 Beautiful People at the fashion plate luncheon were Grace Hightower De Niro, Maria Cuomo Cole, Somers Farkas, Wendy Carduner, Georgette Mosbacher, Diandra Douglas, Paula Zahn, Debbie Bancroft, CeCe Black, Charlotte Ford, Anne Hearst McInerney, Jean Shafiroff, Katharina Otto Bernstein, Charlotte Ford, Somers Farkas and more.