Motherhood is a life-long journey

In celebration of Mother’s Day this Sunday, here’s a salute to all moms.

The young mother set her foot on the path of life. “Is the way long?” she asked.

Her Guide said, “Yes, the way is long, and you will be old before you reach the end of it, but the end will be better than the beginning.”

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. The sun shone on them, and the young mother said, “Nothing will ever be lovelier than this.”

Then night came with a storm, and the path became dark. Her children shivered with fear so the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle. The children said, “Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come to us.” The mother said, “This was better than the brightest of days, for I have taught my children courage.”

When morning came, the mother and the children climbed a hill. They all grew weary. Yet the mother kept saying to the children, “A little patience and we are there.” So the children climbed, and they climbed, and when they reached the top they said, “Mother, we could not have done it without you.”

The mother looked up at the stars that night and said, “This was a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of a storm. Yesterday, I gave them courage, today, I have given them strength.”

The next day strange clouds darkened the earth: clouds of war, hate and evil, and the children groped and stumbled, and the mother said, “Look up, lift your eyes to the Light.” The children looked and saw above the clouds an Everlasting Glory, and it guided them beyond the darkness.

That night the mother said, “This was the best day of all, for I have shown my children God.”

The days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old. She was small and bent, but her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. When the way was hard, they helped their mother. When the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was almost weightless.

At last, they came to a hill, and beyond the hill they could see a winding road and golden gates flung wide. The mother said, “I have reached the end of my journey. Now I know that the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them.”

The children said, “You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates.” They stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her, and they said, “We cannot see her. Nevertheless, she is with us. A mother like ours is more than a memory; she is a living presence.”

Our mothers are always with us. She is the whisper of the leaves as we walk down the street; she is the cool hand on our brows when we are not feeling well. She is the sound of the rain that lulls us to sleep.

Our mothers live inside our laughter, and she is crystallized in every teardrop. She is the place we came from, our first home. She is the map we follow with every step we take and our first love, and our first friend. Nothing on earth can separate us; not time, not space – not even death!

Happy Mother’s Day.