Being A Mother

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take


another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, "I love you, but I

know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with

you. "The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my Mother, who

has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three

children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night

I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. "What's wrong,

are you well," she asked? My mother is the type of woman who suspects

that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. "I

thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you," I

responded "just the two of us." She thought about it for a moment, and

then said, "I would like that very much.”That Friday after work, as I

drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her

house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She

waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was

wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding

anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's. "I

told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were

impressed," she said, as she got into the car. "They can't wait to hear

about our meeting. "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 entries, I

lifted my eyes and saw Mother 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 other's 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 wasn't sure that I

could be there; but nevertheless, 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, son. "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 our family. Give

them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off until

'some other time. 'Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to

normal after you've had a baby.... That somebody doesn't know that once

you're a mother, "normal" is history. Somebody said you can't love the

second child as much as you love the first....that somebody doesn't have

two or more children. Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother

is labor and Delivery....that 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 stop worrying after her

child gets married....well that 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....that somebody

never had grandchildren. Somebody said your Mother knows you love her, so

you don't need to tell her... That somebody isn't a Mother. Pass this

along to all the "Mothers" in your life and to everyone who ever had a

mother. This isn't just about being a Mother; it's about appreciating the

people in your lives while you have them....no matter who that person

is. "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some

kind of battle.