BEING A MOTHER

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>>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 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 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
>>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 second child as
>> much as you love the first .... somebody doesn't
>> have two 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
>> and to everyone who ever had a mother. This isn't
>> just about being a mother; it's about appreciating
>> the people in your life while you have them....no
>> matter who that person is.
>>