After 21 years of marriage,
I discovered a new way of
keeping alive the spark of love.
A little while ago,
I had started to go
out with another woman.
It was really my wife's idea.
"I know that you love her,"
she said one day,
taking me by surprise.
"But I love YOU," I protested.
"I know, but you also love her."
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 entrées,
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 God and 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 fifth child as much
as you love the first ...
somebody doesn't have five 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!
~Author Unknown~
This story was sent to me through email
I don't know who wrote this,
but if you do please email me
so that I can give credit where it is due
Midi playing is "Fantasy"
