Happy Mother's Day

(Note: There is nothing about my leukemia or lymphoma in this entry)

There are several special mothers in my life, but four are particularly close to me – my own Mom, my wife, and both my daughters.

I wanted to write something special to honor the mother of my children who taught the girls, through example, how to be great mothers in their own right. And I wanted to honor my own mother who is 94 and just moved into a nursing home this year. I had the brilliant idea of writing an original poem. I figured nine or ten stanzas would be pretty good. I would write one for each of them. Umm, not such a brilliant idea. I now remember why I hated writing poetry back in high school, almost 50 years ago. I can’t do it! After many false starts, here is the miserable result before I finally gave up:

TO MY WIFE, CHERYL
You are the Mother of my children
Who now have children of their own.
So now you are a grandma
From the seeds of which we’ve sown.

You showed them how to do it
How to love without condition.
And now they show that kind of love
To their own with such tradition.

TO MY MOM

Roses are Red,
Violets are Blue
Mom you are so great
And that is why I love you!

Umm, can you tell it was late by the time I got to the second one?

However, my feeble attempts did cause me to think about both of these wonderful women and how much they mean to me. I wish I knew how to put those thoughts into meaningful poetry. I decided to see if there was anyplace on the web I could go for inspiration. I figured I couldn’t directly copy something without permission, but perhaps it would get some of my own creative juices flowing. What I found was a site with poetry that actually encouraged you to cut and paste and put into cards for your mom. So here are a couple of the poems I found meaningful.

This first two are for both my wife and my mom:

"Happy Mother's Day"

“Happy Mother’s Day” means more
Than have a happy day.
Within those words lie lots of things
We never get to say.
It means I love you first of all,
Then thanks for all you do.
It means you mean a lot to me,
And that I honor you.

But most of all, I guess it means
That I am thinking of
Your happiness on this, your day,
With pleasure and with love

By Kay Hunt


*********************************************

No Love like a Mother's Love

There is no love, like a mother's love,
no stronger bond on earth...
like the precious bond that comes from God,
to a mother, when she gives birth.

A mother's love is forever strong,
never changing for all time...
and when her children need her most,
a mother's love will shine.

God bless these special mothers,
God bless them every one...
for all the tears and heartache,
and for the special work they've done.

When her days on earth are over,
a mother's love lives on...
through many generations,
with God's blessings on each one.

Be thankful for our mothers,
for they love with a higher love...
from the power God has given,
and the strength from up above.

By Jill Lemming

This last one is especially for my Mom and for all Military Moms who may read these words. They are special ladies. Although I returned home safe, many sons and daughters have not. When I joined the Air Force, my Mom cried. When I first went overseas, my Mom cried. Each time after when I left to go overseas, Mom cried. I didn’t understand. That is I didn’t understand until our oldest daughter first moved away to a different state to join her military husband and then I understood just a little. However, when my youngest daughter called me from Dallas and told me she was taking her physical and was enlisting in the Army, I truly understood.

MILITARY MOMS

This year on Mother's Day
We should think of offspring lost
And Mothers of all those Troops
Who paid the ultimate cost.

They've watched Sons and Daughters
Sent off to a foreign land
To fight wars and give their all
In some conflicts so ill planned.

But no matter what the reasons
They've always stepped up to the line
To give their lives for Freedoms
Enjoyed by all of yours and mine.

We must Honor all those Mothers
Of all those who have Served
And Sacrifices that they made
With our, "Thanks!", so well deserved.

It takes a very Special Lady
To let Her Child go off to War
Or just to join the Military
With the pride and fear and more.

There's too many Gold Star Mothers
And if you might know of one
Please send Her a special wish
To praise Her Daughter or Son.

Military Moms are the Greatest
With a strength beyond compare
Who hope and pray their loved one
Comes Home safe, from over there.

So, let's keep them in our thoughts
And hope their prayers come true
All those Moms and all those Troops
Who stand Strong and Proud, and True.

By: Del "Abe" Jones

God bless you Cheryl and Mom and Happy Mother’s Day! Thank you both for being terrific mothers! Happy Mother’s Day to all moms reading this. You have the most important job in the world.