To All MOTHERS...

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 entrees, 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. Sometime
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 can't love the second child as much as you love the
first.. somebody doesn't have
two or more children.

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 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 _GREAT _'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!