>If you send this to just one person, it should make it all the way around >the World by Mother's Day. > >This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off on metal bleachers >at football games Friday night instead of watching from cars, so that >when their kids asked, "Did you see me?" they could say, "Of course, I >wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it. > >This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers >in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry >Kool-Aid saying, "It's OK honey, Mommy's here." > >This is for all the mothers of Kosovo who fled in the night and can't >find their children. > >This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see. > >And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes. > >For all the mothers of the victims of the Colorado shooting, and the >mothers of the murderers. > >For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of >their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, >safely. > >For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween >costumes. .. >And all the mothers who DON'T. > >What makes a good Mother anyway? >Is it patience? >Compassion? >Broad hips? >The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, >all at the same time? >Or is it heart? > >Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear >down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time? > >The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M. >to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby? > >The need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear >news of a school shooting, a fire, a car accident, a baby dying? > >So this is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and >explained all about making babies. >And for all the mothers who wanted to but just couldn't. > >This is for reading "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then >reading it again. "Just one more time." > >This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store >and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a tired 2-year old who >wants ice cream before dinner. > >This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their >shoelaces before they started school. >And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead. > >For all the mothers who bite their lips sometimes until they bleed - when >their 14 year olds dye their hair green. Who lock themselves in the >bathroom when babies keep crying and won't stop. > >This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their >hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse. > >This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their >daughters to sink a jump shot. > >This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little >voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own off spring >are at home. > >This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on their children's >graves. > >This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the >words to reach them. > >This is for all the mothers who sent their sons to school with >stomachaches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only >to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please >pick them up. Right away. > >This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep >deprivation. >And mature mothers learning to let go. > >For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers. >Single mothers and married mothers. >Mothers with money, mothers without. > >This is for you all. >So hang in there. >Please pass along to all the moms in your life. > >"Home is what catches you when you fall -and we all fall." >Please pass this to a wonderful mother you know. (I just did)