(Sunday      9 May 2010)

By P Chong

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Play Video: Mum’s the Best!

Good cheers to all the Mothers. Today is your Day!

Yes, you are Queen for the day. So put up your legs & relax.

Let the family do you honour – breakfast in bed, gifts of roses & flowers,

special lunch & dinner . . . every conceivable sign of love & appreciation.

Mothers Day in Australia, the second Sunday of May, is a special day for mothers when family members gather together to celebrate the occasion.

Red Roses from Our Garden

When I was young, I remember listening to a favourite song that was constantly aired over the radio. It’s called “Mother” and the lyrics are too beautiful to be forgotten. Its acronym aptly display the truth of it all:

M is for the million things she gave me

O means only that she’s growing old

T is for her tears she shed to save me

H is for the heart of purest gold

E is for her eyes with love-light shinning

R means right & right she’ll always be

Put them all together, they spell “MOTHER”, a word that means a world to me.

My mother passed on at age 92 on 11 June 2007. She never had a day of sickness till the day she was taken away from us. She blessed us much & in turn she was greatly blessed. She was truly a woman of substance to raise all nine of us siblings. We attribute our success to her great care & love. Now that she is gone, we can only remember her fondly & dearly missed.

On this special day, I like to pay special tribute to all mothers by relating this beautiful story which depicts every facet of love & care.

The young mother set her foot on the path of life. “Is this the long way?” she asked. The guide said: “Yes, and 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 roared, and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear and cold. However, 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. The mother too 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 hardship. Yesterday I gave them courage. Today, I’ve given them strength.”

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. ” The children looked and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory, and it guided them beyond the darkness. That night the Mother said, “This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God.”

The days went on, the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old and she was a little bent.

But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. 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. 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 crystallised 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!

Mother Teresa said: “kindness is a language we all understand. Even the blind can see it & the deaf can hear it.”

So, say “Thank You” and say it out loud!

(Source of Story: Unknown)