MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL: YOUR FIRST LOVE

For those who are fortunate enough to still be blessed by having your Mom with you,

this is beautiful...

For those who aren't...

it is even more beautiful.

It takes my breath away!

The young mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is this the long way?" she asked.  And the guide said "Yes, and the way is hard.  And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning"

Since the young mother was happy, she would not believe that anything could be better than these years.  So she played with her children, she fed them and bathed them, and taught them how to tie their shoes and ride a bike and reminded them to feed the dog, and do their homework and brush their teeth.  The sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."

Then the nights came, and the storms, and the path was sometimes dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her arms, and the children said, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come."

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary.  But at all times she said to the children, "A little patience and we are there." So the children climbed, and as they climbed they learned to weather the storms. And with this, she gave them strength to face the world. Year after year, she showed them compassion, understanding, hope, but most of all... unconditional love.

The days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old and she became little and bent.  But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage.  And the mother, when she lay down at night, looked up at the stars and said, "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned so much and are now passing these traits on to their children."

And when the way became rough for her, they lifted her, and gave her their strength, just as she had given them hers. One day they came to a hill, and beyond the hill, they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.  And mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey.

And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk with dignity and pride, with their heads held high, and so can their children after them.  And the children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates." And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her.  And they said: "We cannot see her, but she is with us still.  A Mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence."

Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she's the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick and perfume that she wore, she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well, she's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day. She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep, the colors of a rainbow, she is Christmas morning. Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every tear drop.  A mother shows every emotion... happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy, love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy, sorrow... and all the while, hoping and praying you will only know the good feelings in life.

She's the place you came from, your first home, and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you.

Not time,

not space...

not even death!

MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL: THE LOVE OF A MOTHER

There is a story called ‘Laddie,’ that tells of a Scotch mother whose son in early manhood had been allowed to go to London to be brought up by an old physician friend who educated him in his profession.

About the time the son graduated, his father died and the young doctor was unable to go home. A few months later the mother, hungry for love determined to go and live with her son who now had settled down to his profession.

She surprised him and while glad to see her, shadows played over his face at the thought of the little old-fashioned mother settled over his home. What would the aristocratic people think of her? What would his sweetheart, Violet, say to her old-fashioned ways?

Keeping her true identity from his servants he determined to settle her in the suburbs of the great city where he might see her often. That night he suggested to her that the traffic and bustle of the city would be too noisy for her, and it would be better for her to live just outside of the city, where he could run out and visit her. A shadow came over her face. Quickly concealing it, however, after a while she retired saying that they would talk the matter over again in the morning.

The doctor tried to sleep but could not. He rolled and tossed until he heard his door open and he called out: ‘Mother, what is it?’ And she said, ‘Laddie, may I come in and tuck you in just as I used to do when you were a boy?’ ‘Yes, mother,’ he replied. Tucking him in, she stooped over and kissed him and then retired.

That kiss burned into his soul and he resolved that he would keep his mother no matter what happened.

After making this decision, he fell asleep.

He slept longer than usual in the morning. As soon as he was dressed he went to his mother’s room, but she was gone; the place was empty. A little note told him that she did not want to stand in his way, and she was sure that she could find a way to care for herself. He tried to find her but could not; she had slipped out of sight.

He told Violet and she searched with him, but to no avail. Months afterward, when the doctor had visited a patient in the hospital, and was going out through the accident ward, he saw a screen around a cot and he said to the nurse: ‘Some one near death, I see,’ ‘Yes,’ was the reply, ‘ an old woman was run over by an omnibus and she talks in her delirium about her old home and now and then she calls for Laddie.’ Instantly the doctor was around the screen to the cot, and there lay his old mother.

With a cry of ‘Mother,’ that would almost have called one back from the dead he threw himself by her side. She opened her eyes and wearily stroked his head and said: ‘It had been a long way since I left you, Laddie.’

Violet came and the two stood by her cot as her life went out with the going down of the sun. And she gave them her parting blessing and the doctor discovered a mother’s love that did not want to stand in the way of her son’s success.