I LOVE YOU

[Guest guest]

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 had been a

widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my

3 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 entries, 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 where 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 6 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 3-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 4th grader with his math.

 

Somebody said you can't love the 5th child as much as

you love the first . . .

Somebody doesn't have 5 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 1st 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 7 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. We

should also pass it on

to anyone who has ever loved and/or lost a mother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.blueaction.org

A politician is a man who will double cross that bridge when he comes to it

http://babyseals.care2.com/