Mothers

[Guest guest]

The young mother set her foot on the path of life. She asked, " Is

this the long way? "

 

And the elder 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. "

 

But the young mother was happy, and she would not believe that

anything could be better than these years. So she played with her

children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed them

in the clear streams; and the sun shone on them, and the young Mother

cried, " Nothing will ever be lovelier than this. "

 

Then the night came, and the storm, and the path was dark, and the

children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and

covered them with her mantle, 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 when they reached the top, they said,

" Mother, we would not have done it without you. "

 

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 fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them

courage. Today, I have given them strength. "

 

And with the next day came strange clouds which darkened the earth,

clouds of war and hate and evil, and the children groped and stumbled,

and the mother said: " Look up. Lift your eyes to the light. " And the

children looked and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory of

stars, and they guided them beyond the darkness. And that night the

Mother said, " This is the best day of all, for I have shown my

children the Great Spirit. "

 

And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and

the mother grew old and she was little and bent. But her children

were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And when the way was

rough, they lifted her, for she was as light as a feather; and at last

they came to a hill, and beyond they could see a shining road and a

beautiful land.

 

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

alone, and their children after them. "

 

And the children said, " You will always walk with us, Mother, even

when you have gone on your journey to the sky. " And they stood and

watched her as she went on alone, and she walked out of sight. 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 bleach in your freshly

laundered clothes she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not well.

 

Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in

every tear drop. 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 and your first heartbreak, and nothing on earth can separate you.

 

Not time, not space ... not even death!

 

Author Unknown