Happy Mother's Day...

"Just for Moms and Mothers"

This for all the mothers who

froze their cabooses off on metal bleachers at soccer games

so that when their kids asked, "Did you see my goal?" they could say,

"Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world,"

and mean it!

This is for the mothers who

have sat up all night with sick children in their arms,

wiping up vomit laced with Oscar Meyer 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 for the mothers who

gave birth to babies they'll never see and for the mothers who took those

babies and gave them homes.

This is for all the mothers who

run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes.

What makes a good mother anyway?

Is it patience? Compassion?

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 yo from sleeping at 2 a.m. to put your hand

on the back of a sleeping baby?

Is it 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?

I think so!

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

taught their children to tie their shoes before they started to school

and for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

For all the mothers who bit their lips (sometimes until they bled)

when their 14 year old dyed their hair green.

This is for all the mothers who

show up at work with spit-up in their hair

and diapers in their purse.

This is for 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 offspring are at home or are grown.

This is for the mothers who

put pinwheels and teddy bears on their children's graves.

This is for all the mothers whose children have gone astray

and who can't find words to reach them.

This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and

sleep deprivation.  And mature mothers learning to let go. For working moms and stay-at-home moms. Single mothers and married mothers. Mothers with money and mothers without.

This is for you, so hang in there.

The world would be a terrible place without the love

of mothers everywhere.

You make it a more civil, caring and safe place for the precious

children in our world.

"Home is what catches you when you fall - and we all fall!"

THANK ALL OF YOU FOR BEING MOMS

Jon (son), Morgan (daughter), Grandma, Mom, Me