| Show kathleen norris norms says remember your mother alother today bell syndicate service r f f ita 11 f M t III G FYAN F YAN your mothers heart is going goin to follow you ithe rever you are in camp in the all ab or far off on dangerous seas these are dark days for mothers as neter before your mother needs a message from you this mothers day by KATHLEEN NORRIS mothers are the most GOOD valuable thing in the world all the love appreciation respect honor that I 1 good mothers get one on e tenth enough for them no nation has ever been just in recognizing what good mothers do mothers are never publicly rewarded they get no decorations no high places but the fact remains that they are the most valuable persons in the world mothers lives have two phases the T he first is giving the second is j receiving they like the giving years best they love the tim time e when the children are small when love and service keep them busy every moment of the day when they drop into bed exhausted every night it is one of the divine decrees that a good mother shall love her job to the skeptical sophisticated outsiders eye that job looks dull enough it means the early summons of an alarm clock a cold dark kitchen turned into a place of warmth and light it means bubbling oatmeal and the opening of milk bottles it means crib blankets to air school lunches rubbers goodbye kisses telephone grocer grocer picking up small pajamas making small beds planning of meals baking of potatoes help with homework dishes to wash scratches and bumps to soothe cough medicine scolding guiding judging consoling advising an endless list this list of the normal cares and duties of a good mother could go on for several columns before we come to the emergencies and great occasions that make special demands on her events like christmas parties illnesses accidents moves to new neighborhoods financial crises all these mother has to meet and it is upon mothers attitude toward them that the whole fam ilys position depends for mother is the family weather vane if she is cheerful if home is a pleasant place to which to return if she likes her job then everyone is happy and the benefit derived by her husband and children from her strength and fineness is beyond all calculating it will go with those children through every day of th their air lives A happy unburdened unafraid chUd childhood hood actually me means ans a happy unafraid life no money can buy that particular security but mother and only mother can give it outwardly drudgery her busy self sacrificing tiring days but inwardly they are filled with that glory that comes to human beings who are liv living ing their destined lives to the full the second phase of a mothers life is the hard one all through her girlhood and young womanhood woman hood and proud maturity she has been hearing that there is agony ahead the agony of having the children grow up become independent select their own mates and go into the world to live their own lives but that is a pain that must be experienced to be appreciated the children simply dont need her any more she cant quite believe itt the tumbled beds and tumbled heads the torn frocks and cut fingers the christmas surprises and vacation trips the young sweet faces pressed against hers bers the languid small hand of the little convalescent vale scent reaching for her own all gonel empty rooms in her house toms room the girls room NO AO JUST REWARD no nation says kathleen norris has been just in lecog recognizing what good mothers do but she believes that because a rood good mother loves her job she finds her reward in the joy of doing it well ivell she loves every minute minte of those early years ichen her life is an endless succession of rubbers measles school lunch boxes stray cats and she loves the memory of those years after her children have grown up and discovered that they no longer need her today busy and courageous as always she asks no other reward ret tard I 1 11 empty spaces in her heart no use making hot cakes on this frosty morning she cant eat them and they arent permitted on dads diet no use picking up a small padlock and chain a dolls hat a box of crayons in the store nobody at home is small enough to shriek with excitement when they are presented if those early days called for strength of mind and body these later ones make even heavier demands on her soul tier her duty Is to be happy resign yourself to being to your children only the loved memory of their happy youth never question them as to how often they write you or come to see you their lives are parted irrevocably from yours now such services as you can do them or the grandc grandchildren hUdren are just so much pure gold pressed down and running over the richness of life nothing is your right your due to be claimed with complaints and reproaches your duty is to be happy busy preoccupied without any reference to them the mother of whom sons and daughters boast is th the e mother whose life is independently individually vidua lIy occupied so that to keep beloved grandchildren over a weekend or go to a sons house for an interval of housekeeping or nursing during curing the younger cifes absence Is is to grant a favor so much for duty a mothers last duty to the children but those children have a duty too and no now W when the year brings around mothers day it is a duty so mixed with love pleasure memory and honor that its warmth and beamut beauty y fill the land flower shops cand candy Y makers telegraph boys telephone operators mail men are all kept busy while american sons and daughters turn back for just one happy day to think of mother needs a message and believe me speaking for all mothers today no matter how busy that wonderful mother of yours may be no matter how sensibly and bravely she has accepted the facts of your marriage your absorption in things outside her reach she ashes IS going to remember that its mothers day ashes going to keep one ear free tor for the telephone the other for the doorbell her heart and her prayers are going to follow you wherever you are in in camp in the air far off on the dangerous blue seas A canadian woman showed me a letter she received last mothers day no money on earth could buy the penciled half sheet a young flier sent home to his m mother ther that day it said loving you having a glorious time praying every night for morn mom davy this year she wont have any letter but ashes got that one safe |
