Mother's day

Dedicated to Nilda and Linnette
I remember one day at the gift shop with my husband, we were browsing through the thousand greeting cards to buy one for his mother on Mother's Day, when he said: "There's the Mother's Day, the Father's Day, but, when is the Son/Daughter's Day?" And a man walking by answered him: "EVERY DAY".

Do you remember that night when you learned you were pregnant, you felt joy and yet fear, and you started to wonder how your life would be? A new life was growing inside you, a new life that changed yours forever. Soon that child came into the world, filling your heart with happiness, that moment when you held him for the first time, you saw his eyes looking everywhere as if wondering where he was, then staring at you with so much tenderness, you discovered a new way of love.

Now your days were longer, the nights shorter, the room was filled with the sound of a crying baby, a human being so tiny, so fragile, so perfect...that little hand grabbing your finger, holding it really tight, you liked to smell his hair, his unique scent, to caress his skin so soft, you enjoyed staring at him when he was asleep, you were in love again.

Time went by so quickly you can barely remember the day he made his first steps. Oh!, but you can't forget when you burst into tears when you heard him saying "Mommy" for the first time. That day when he came from school and gave you the first card made from scratch by him, you felt so proud.

That child needed you more than anybody, when he felt hunger you fed him, when he was cold you covered him with you arms, when he was sad you comforted him and gave him advice, when he was bored you used your imagination to come up with new ideas to play with him, you became a child yourself to keep him happy, in every step of the way, you were there.

Your child means everything to you, now you know how much you mean to your mother, and you understand what she went through to keep you healthy, strong, to make you happy.

Even though I never had the love of a Mother, I'm grateful that God gave me the privilege of becoming one. He has given me the opportunity of enjoying the more precious and biggest gift someone can ever have, a child.

When I look back and remember that day at the gift shop, I smile, that man was right, you celebrate the life of your child EVERY DAY.

By Sandra Falcon (2004)