Thursday, May 11, 2006

The Journey Of A Mother~


The Journey Of A Mother

While in the wee hours of the morning, I checked my email, and this wonderful poem below was sent to me from Malinda, the best friend of my daughter since they were 9 years old (Malinda is now 26) Malinda from her childhood, called me Mom, and vise versa, my daughter also called Malinda's mother Mom. No jealously was ever involved between us as mothers, as we (Mom's) were happy that the girls had others to lean on in a mother type way.

Malinda's Mom died several years ago, and mine not long after, so we also share this, an understanding of a special common bond. Malinda now is a wonderful mother of 2 young beautiful girls, and with that, having your own children makes you think so much of your own mother. Steps our Mothers placed in so many ways, that we think upon!

I wanted to blog this while I had time, as Mothers Day is approaching this Sunday, and I need to post this now and while on my mind, as I think this a very important subject.

Malinda, thank you so much for sending this to me. You have sent and touched on a subject and poem that I think all can understand! I love you always, Mom!


The Journey Of A Mother

For those who are fortunate enough to still be blessed by
having
your Mom with you, this is beautiful...
For those who aren't...it is even more beautiful.

The young mother set her foot on the path of life.
"Is this the long way?" she asked.
And 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, she fed them and bathed
them, and taught them how to tie their shoes and ride a
bike and reminded them to feed the dog, and do their
homework and brush their teeth. The sun shone on
them, and the young Mother cried,
"Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."

Then the nights came, and the storms, and the path
was sometimes dark, and the children shook with
fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and
covered them with her arms, 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, and the
mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children,
"A little patience and we are there." So the children climbed,
and as they climbed they learned to weather the storms.
And with this, she gave them strength to face the world.

Year after year, she showed them compassion,
understanding, hope, but most of all...unconditional love.
And when they reached the top they said,
"Mother, we would not have done it without you."

The days went on, and the weeks and the months and
the years, and the mother grew old and she became
little and bent. But her children were tall and strong,
and walked with courage. 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 so much and are now passing these
traits on to their children."

And when the way became rough for her, they lifted her,
and gave her their strength, just as she had given them hers.

One day they came to a hill, and beyond the hill, they could
see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.
And mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey.
And now I know the end is better than the beginning,
for my children can walk with dignity and pride,
with their heads held high, and so can 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 certain foods you remember,
flowers you pick and perfume that she wore, she's
the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well,
she's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day.
She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep,
the colors of a rainbow, she is Christmas morning.

Your Mother lives inside your laughter.
And she's crystallized in every tear drop. A mother shows
every emotion .happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy,
love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy, sorrow...
and all the while, hoping and praying you will only
know the good feelings in life.

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, your first friend, even your first enemy,
but nothing on earth can separate you.
Not time, not space...not even death!


Jacque Powers
I tried to find more information on Jacque Powers as this poem was just so touching, but did not find anything on Google search concerning her. She is possibly just as many of us are as new writer or old writers pouring out our feelings,and making a point, but this poem has certainly touched my soul, and if and when I find out more about her, I will certainly thank her for such a great write and will tell others about her if she will allow me to do so. I think in my heart that she is someone I want to know!

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:07 AM

    This is truly a wonderful poem and I really say's it all.

    Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous1:21 AM

    I woke up in the middle of the night, unable to breath, oh no a panic attack? What is wrong with me? I know what is wrong with me; I am the mother of a homeless man. Yes me, the successful business woman, I am the mother of homeless man… Oh my god, how did that happen? My baby, my beautiful baby boy, the treasure and joy of our lives. What went wrong, where did you go? Are you mentally dead? Did the drugs take you away years ago? Not my son, not the boy I watched grow up. The boy who wanted a suit and brief case for his 8th birthday. Did the drugs kill you; did I kill you by not getting you the help you needed? The pain … the pain is so terrible, they say the worst pain is to lose a child, to grieve a death of your child is not supposed to happen. Please understand the worse grief is to lose a living child, someone on this earth, a good soul under all the filth and drugs. You don’t know what to do.. Should I help him, should I grieve him, like he is dead? Is he dead, when you don’t hear from him for weeks, you wonder if he is a “John Doe” in the morgue. Do you keep hope? How do you keep hope? Now that the pain is out, can you put it back, can you bottle it up again and hide it behind your “successful life”. Can you move forward by not talking about him, erasing him from your memory? Oh God, how terrible it is to erase your baby from memory, does that make me a monster or a survivor. If he was dead, it would be ok to grieve, to cry your eyes out night after night. But I don’t know! I try to control the pain – I don’t know how, what is next for the mother of bum!! Let it out, release the volcano and then go back to bed. No one can hear me crying, sobbing out of control. Never forgiving myself for not doing better. God gave me a challenge and I passed it up for a career, to make myself feel special, to have money after all, you have to have money and notoriety to be happy. Don’t you? Isn’t that why we give our souls to “get ahead” in life? Warp thinking is what has happened, how I help others realize the importance of life and most of all the importance of love. Listen to someone who is in so much pain she can’t pull herself out to appreciate the gifts she is given. What do you need in life –Family, a roof, a simple home, food, education and most of all love and respect for everyone! Including the homeless man or woman on the side of the road. That is someone’s baby…

    ReplyDelete