Happy Mother's Day 2009

By M H Ahssan

"Mother carries the child in her womb for nine months and in her heart for the rest of her life".

These few words sum up the meaning and significance of the word Mother. Mother is undoubtedly the most beautiful and lovable word in any language. This goes to show the importance of mother in our lives. Mother stands for millions of things she gives to her children; it also stands for sacrifices pain, grief and sorrows which she has to undergo to keep her children happy and secure. No joy can match the joy of a mother looking at her child, those craving eyes-deeper than a whole ocean. The most important woman in an individual's life is her/his mother. Her presence affects us our entire life and she can't be replaced by anyone.

Celebrated every year, Mother's Day is an occasion when individuals express their love and respect that they have for their mother. It's time to pamper her for all she has done for us over the years. On Mother's Day you can tell your Mom that she will always be important to you all and that you will continue to love her for ever. While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

Yes, mother’s day comes and goes. But the memories linger and remain...

“The woman who creates and sustains a home and under whose hands children grow up to be strong and pure men and women, is a creator second only to God.” — Helen Hunt Jackson

Mother’s Day has been difficult for me since my mother died of cancer in 1990. There are many things I miss about her, but what I miss the most is sharing my children with her.

Sometimes I get a twinge of sadness because I was never able financially to give her even a tiny fraction of what she gave me. My Mother’s Day gifts to her were usually inexpensive, a pair of new pajamas, a new purse. Then I realize that my love was the only gift she ever really wanted.

I was reminded of that yesterday when my seven year old thanked me for his birthday presents. “Mom,” he said, ”do you know which gift I liked best?”

I imagined it would be the super-soaker water gun, guaranteed to shoot up to fifty feet, the one he used to squirt his sister, the dog, and me. But that wasn’t what he said.

“It’s the love you gave me Mom,” he stated, then ran off to play.

I stood frozen with my mouth open and the tears sliding down my face, suddenly feeling very overwhelmed with how wonderful motherhood can be. How I longed to pick up the phone and call the person who was not only my mother, but also my best friend, to tell her that the love she gave me now lives on in her grandchildren. But I couldn’t.

Her love for me lives on in other ways too. It visits me in the spring when the flowers she planted a few months before she died bloom. It comes to me from her former students when they write me letters, or take the time to tell me what a wonderful teacher she was.

And so each Mother’s Day I have a host of bittersweet memories. I rejoice that in a world of abused and abandoned children, I had a mother who loved me, nurtured me, and taught me right from wrong. And I cry, because I miss her friendship, her strength, her humor, and her love for my children.

There is a creed in Robert Fulghum’s wonderful book, All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. It is called the “Storytellers Creed” and I asked the minister to read at Mama’s funeral. It says in part...

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.
That dreams are more powerful than facts.
That hope always triumphs over experience
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.

Love really is stronger than death because it comes from God, and it is because of God and His sacrifice, that we have hope of life eternal. And then there will be no more goodbyes, because like the old hymn says there will be “no tears in heaven.”