We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice
and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.
After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read
large print. Half way through the entrées, I lifted my eyes and
saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.
"It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small," she said.
”Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor," I responded.
During the dinner we had an agreeable conversation -nothing
extraordinary -but catching up on recent events of each others life.We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house
later, she said, "I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you". I agreed.
"How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got home.
"Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined," I answered.
A few days later my mother died of a massive heart attack.
It happened so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything for her.
Some time later I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant
receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached
note said: "I paid this bill in advance. I was almost sure that I
couldn't be there but, never-the-less, I paid for two plates - one
for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that
night meant for me. I love you."At that moment I understood the importance of saying, in time: "I
LOVE YOU" and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve.
Nothing in life is more important than God and your family.
Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put
off till "some other time".
Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after
you've had a baby ...somebody doesn't know that once you're a
mother, "normal", is history.Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct .
somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.Somebody said being a mother is boring ... somebody never rode in a car
driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "turn
out good"...somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.
Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices .
somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf
ball through the neighbor's kitchen window.Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother ...
somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as much as you love the
first...somebody doesn't have five children.Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing
questions in the books .somebody never had a child stuff beans up
his nose or in his ears.Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and
delivery...somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the
first day of kindergarten ...or on a plane headed for military
"boot camp"Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one
hand tied behind her back .somebody never organized seven giggling
Brownies to sell cookies.Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets
married...somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or
daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings.Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves
home...somebody never had grandchildren.Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't
need to tell her ....somebody isn't a mother.Pass this along to all the "mothers" in your life.
Comments