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FOOD
FOR THOUGHT
Editorials by Robert Kirwan |
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The
Most Beautiful Word In Any Language….Mother |
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Norman Vincent Peale once wrote, “In her the creative genius of
God attains His highest skill. What a charming blend she is of the most
lovable and moving qualities of human nature. From the moment in youth
when she holds her first baby in her arms until in life’s evening time
she looks tenderly upon her grandchild, her life is one of dedicated
service and love. Loving us; believing in us; fighting for us; praying for
us; to her we are always her dear child – life of her life.”
Sunday, May 14 is
Mother’s Day – our special way of recognizing an extraordinary way of
love. It is a day to honour someone who gives of herself so that others
have more.
I will never forget one
young mother I met a long time ago. It was before my wife and I had any
children of our own. The lady was walking down the hallway of one of the
schools where I was teaching, eyes full of laughter, and two little
shadows following after her. Wherever she moved, they were always right
there – holding on to her skirt; hanging onto her chair; before her;
after her; constantly in touch.
Finally, I could resist
no longer and asked, “Don’t you ever get tired of your two little
shadows getting in your way?”
She smiled as she shook
her pretty young head, and answered with a loving smile, “It’s good to
have shadows that run when you run; that laugh when you’re happy; and
hum when you hum. You only have shadows when the sun is out, and every day
of my life is filled with sunshine when I have my children around.”
Another story I always
remember around Mother’s Day is the one about the soldier who, during
World War II watched a lady break the only piece of bread she had into two
fragments and give them to her children. He turned to the Sergeant and
commented, “She has kept nothing for herself. Is it because she is not
hungry?”
The Sergeant answered,
“No. It is because she is a mother.”
Mother’s Day is an
opportunity for each of us to say “Thank You” to our Mother for being
such a significant person in our life and for adding warmth to our days.
This is a celebration of the kind of timeless love and care that has been
shared since we were held for the first time in those soft, loving arms.
This is a day to show your Mother, in some special way, that you truly
appreciate everything she has done for you.
Remember…it is the
little things that count and give a mother pleasure. The picture that is
smudged a bit with fingerprints; the school art project that requires an
explanation; the card made out of construction paper; the coloured rock;
the ragged, bright bouquet of flowers, roots and all – these are things
that delight a mother’s heart and these are the things that she likely
still has stored away in boxes in the basement or garage. Your mother has
spent a lifetime giving of herself and sacrificing her time for you –
give a bit of that time back to her this Mother’s Day.
In closing, I would
like to leave you with the thoughts of an anonymous woman who wrote about
her mother.
“I had the meanest
mother in the world! While other kids had candy and pop for breakfast, I
had to eat cereal, eggs and toast. While other kids had cakes and candy
for lunch, I had a sandwich. My Mother insisted on knowing where we were
at all times and if we said we would be gone for an hour, we had to be
back within an hour or less. You’d think we were convicts in a prison.
She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing with them. I
am ashamed to admit it, but she actually had the nerve to break the child
labour law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make the beds and
learn how to cook. That woman must have stayed awake nights thinking up
things for us kids to do. And she insisted that we tell the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she
could read minds and our life became more unbearable. None of this talking
on the phone for hours each night before our homework was done; none of
this honking the car horn for us to come running; and she embarrassed us
to no end by insisting that friends come to the door to get us. I forgot
to mention that most of our fiends were allowed to date at the mature age
of 12 or 13, but our old-fashioned mother refused to let us date until we
were 16.
Because of our Mother,
we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have
ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other’s property or even
arrested for any crime. It was her fault.
Now that we have left
home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean
parents just like Mom was.”
Perhaps that is what
the world needs today – more mean Moms!
This Sunday,
treat your Mom to something special. And when she refuses to allow you to
sit down to the dinner table with your hat on, give her a big hug and
thank her for being so mean.
On behalf of all
children of the world, let me wish all mothers and grandmothers a very
happy and joyous Mothers’ Day! |
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