MOMMA'S DAY

It won't be long until that favorite holiday for bearers of children arrives; Mother's day. One of the best gifts I've ever heard a mom getting was in the form of a simple letter, telling how much a daughter appreciated all the special things her mother had done for her.

Not only did the letter bring tears of joy to the mother's eyes, the contents also created more than a small lump in this writer's throat and yes, it ended up being a song:

MOMMA'S DAY

There were so many times I wondered
If she'd ever heard a word I said,
As she passed on through her childhood years
To those times in her troubled teens

In my mind she would always be my "little girl"
Tried to keep her sheltered from this often cruel world,
Did she love her Momma after all this time?
When she handed me her letter, I just broke down and cried

Cause she wrote; "Mom I remember playin Scrabble with you,
It's still my favorite game-
You put my hair up, into little brown pig-tails
And called me pretty, sweet names.
If I haven't told you lately, If I've never said it enough...
I love you Momma, I always will,
Thanks for being my friend.'

"And I'll play "I Love My Kid's Day"
With my own little girls.
I'll tell them just like you did Momma,
They're the prettiest daughters in this world.
And we'll listen to soft blues tunes,
On lazy Sunday mornings,
Yes I'll be there to protect them
From the day that they are born,
I'll love them just like you did Momma
From the day that they are born."

I have another friend who wrote his dad a similar letter. Mike told his father how much he admired all the things his father had accomplished in his life as well as how much he loved him. A couple of years after Mike opened his heart up in written form, his dad died from terminal cancer.

Shortly after the funeral in a moment of quiet with his mom, she told him that his father would pull that letter out every week or two and re-read the whole thing. That is how much it meant to him.

On Mike's 60th birthday, I voiced to him the hope that each of his own children would one day write something similar to their dad. A note that would perhaps vindicate the effectiveness of Mike's fatherhood. Every man (and woman) has more than the occasional doubt that they have been a good, loving and helpful enough parent.

Happy upcoming Momma's Day to all of those who are one and remember "kids"; flowers and candy are cool, but nothing says "I love you" like Hallmark.