Mothers

MOTHER
>This is a truly BEAUTIFUL piece please
>read this at a slow pace, digesting every word and in
> leisure...do not hurry....this is a treasure...
>
> For those lucky to still be blessed with your Mom,
> this is beautiful. For those of us who aren't, this is
> even more beautiful. For those who are moms, you'll love this.
>
>
>
> 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."
>
>
>
> 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 've given them strength."
>
>
>
>And 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, and it guided them beyond the
> darkness. And that night the Mother said,
>"This is the best day of all, for
> I have shown my children God."
>
>
>
> 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 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 alone, and 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
bleach
> in your freshly laundered socks; 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!