The young mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is this
the long way?" she asked. And the guide said: "Yes, and
the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the
end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."

But the young mother was happy, and she would not believe
that anything could be better than these years. So she played
with her children, and gathered flowers for them along the
way, and bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun shone
on them, and the young mother cried, "Nothing will ever be
lovelier than this." Then the night came, and the storm,
and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear
and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered
them with her mantle, and the children said, "Mother,
we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can
come." And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead,
and the children climbed and grew weary,and the mother
was weary. But at all times she said to the children,
"A little patience and we are there." So the children
climbed, and when they reached the top they said,
"Mother, we would not have done it without you."

And the mother, when she lay down at night looked up at
the stars and said, "This is a better day than the last,
for my children have learned fortitude in the face of
hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage. Today, I have
given them strength."

And the next day came strange clouds which darkened the
earth,clouds of war and hate and evil, and the children
groped and stumbled, and the mother said: "Look up.
Lift your eyes to the light." And the children looked
and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory, and
it guided them beyond the darkness. And that night the
mother said,"This is the best day of all, for I have
shown my children God." And the days went on, and the
weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew
old and she was little and bent. But her children were
tall and strong, and walked with courage. And when the
way was rough, they lifted her, for she was as light
as a feather; and at last they came to a hill, and
beyond they could see a shining road and golden gates
flung wide. And mother said: "I have reached the end
of my journey. And now I know the end is better than
the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and
their children after them."

And the children said, "You will always walk with
us, mother, even when you have gone through the gates."
And they stood and watched her as she went on alone,
and the gates closed after her. And they said: " We
cannot see her, but she is with us still. A Mother
like ours is more than a memory. She is a living
presence.."

Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of
the leaves as you walk down the street; she's the smell
of bleach in your freshly laundered socks; she's the
cool hand on your brow when you're not well. Your Mother
lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in
every tear drop. She's the place you came from, your
first home; and she's the map you follow with every step
you take. She's your first love and your first heartbreak,
and nothing on Earth can separate you. Not time, not space,
not even death!