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The
young mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is this the long
way?" she asked. And the guide said: "Yes, 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!
JoAnna O'Keefe
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OMS
