FOR MOMMY

Another Mothers' Day is approaching. I don't need it to remind me that my Mother is no longer physically with me. 

I think about her every day. I'll either do, or say, or notice something about myself that reminds me I was definitely her child. 

I gaze at her pictures in a way that I never did before. I'm not sure what I'm searching for or hoping to see. 

I wish she were still here.

I wrote a poem not long after her funeral. I knew she was special, but there's something about the end of a person's life that reveals wonderful truths you never knew--even if you think you knew them very well. I'm still learning about my mother. 

Just today I saw a photo of her that I'd never seen before, and it made me smile. 

She was so much more than just my mother, but I'm glad to have had the honor of being her child.

DID YOU KNOW?
For Mommy
February, 2003

Was the smile on your face a genuine one?
Did you do all you wanted to do?
Did you find, if you had any happiness
It was entirely up to you?

Were the sacrifices you made worth it all?
Was there something you wished you could change?
Did you find that the more you looked for the different
The more things just stayed the same?

Did you know? Did you see?
Did you find? Did you know?
Did you know? Did you see?
Did you find? Did you know?

Did you reach all the heights that you wanted to reach?
The very sky was yours. Did you know?
Was the head of the class that you wanted for them
A place you neglected to go?

Did you know all the things that you wanted to know?
Did you see all you wanted to see?
Were there open doors that you never passed through?
Was there something you missed 'cause of me?

Did you know that so many adored you?
Wish you could have heard all the things that they said.
All the times that life left them broken and bruised
You gave them reasons to get up again.

Did you know? Did you see?
Did you find? Did you know?
Did you know? Did you see?
Did you find?
Did you know?