For All Moms- A Mother 's Day Tribute

If you send this to just one person, it  should make
 it all the way around the world by Mother's  Day.
 
This is for the mothers who have sat  up
 all night with sick toddlers in their arms,
 wiping up  barf laced with Oscar Mayer
 wieners and cherry Kool-Aid  saying,
 'It's okay honey, Mommy's here.'
 
Who have  sat in rocking chairs for hours on end
 soothing crying babies who  can't be comforted.
 
This is for all the mothers who show  up at
 work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains
 on  their blouses and diapers in their purse.
 
For all the  mothers who run carpools and
 make cookies and sew Halloween  costumes.
 And all the mothers who DON'T.
  
This is for the mothers who gave birth to
 babies they'll  never see. And the mothers
 who took those babies and gave them  homes.
 
This is for the mothers whose priceless  art
 collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.
  
And for all the mothers who froze their buns
 on metal  bleachers at football or soccer games
 instead
 of watching  from the warmth of their cars.
 And that when their kids asked,  'Did you see me,
 Mom?'
 they could say, 'Of course, I  wouldn't
 have missed it for the world,' and mean it.
  
This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids
 in the  grocery store and swat them in despair when
 they stomp their feet  and scream for ice cream
 before dinner.
 And for all the  mothers who count to ten instead,
 but realize how child abuse  happens.
 
This is for all the mothers who sat down  with
 their children and explained all about making
 babies.  And for all the (grand)mothers who
 wanted to, but just couldn't  find the words.
 
This is for all the mothers who  go
 hungry, so their children can eat.
 
For all the  mothers who read 'Goodnight,
 Moon' twice a night for a year. And  then
 read it again, 'Just one more time.'
 
This is  for all the mothers who taught
 their children to tie their  shoelaces before
 they started school. And for all the  mothers
 who opted for Velcro instead.
 
This is for  all the mothers who teach their sons
 to cook and their daughters  to sink a jump shot.
 
This is for every mother whose head  turns
 automatically when a little voice calls 'Mom?'
 in a  crowd, even though they know their
 own offspring are at home -- or  even away
 at college -- or have their own families.
  
This is for all the mothers who sent their kids
 to school  with stomach aches, assuring them
 they'd be just FINE once they  got there, only
 to get calls from the school nurse an hour  later
 asking them to please pick them up. Right away.
  
This is for mothers whose children have gone
 astray, who  can't find the words to reach them.
 For all the mothers who bite  their lips until they
 bleed when their 14 year olds dye their hair  green.
 
For all the mothers of the victims of
  recent school shootings, and the mothers
 of those who did the  shooting.
 
For the mothers of the survivors,
 and  the mothers who sat in front of their TVs
 in horror, hugging their  child
 who just came home from school, safely.
 
  This is for all the mothers who taught their
 children to be  peaceful, and now pray
 they come home safely from a war.
  
What makes a good mother anyway?
 Is it patience?  Compassion? Broad hips?
 The ability to nurse a baby , cook dinner,  and
 sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time?
  
Or is it in her heart?
 Is it the ache she feels when  she
 watches her son or daughter disappear
 down the street,  walking to school alone
 for the very first time?
 
  The jolt that takes her from sleep to
 dread, from bed to crib at 2  A.M. to put
 her hand on the back of a sleeping baby?
  
The panic, years later, that comes again
 at 2 A.M. when  she just wants to hear
 their key in the door and know they
  are safe again in her home?
 
Or the need to flee from  wherever she is
 and hug her child when she hears news
 of a  fire, a car accident, a child dying?
 
The emotions of  motherhood are
 universal and so our thoughts are for
 young  mothers stumbling through diaper
 changes and sleep  deprivation....
 And for mature mothers learning to let go.
  
For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.
 
  Single mothers and married mothers.
 
Mothers with money,  mothers without.
 
This is for you all. For all of  us...
 
Hang in there. In the end we can
 only do  the best we can. Tell them
 every day that we love them. And  pray
 and never stop being a mother....
 
Please  pass this along to all the mothers in your life.
 
'Home is  what catches you when
 you fall - and we all fall.'
  
Please send this to a
 wonderful mother you know.