Celebrate Mother's!!! Please feel free to forward, I did...

Dinner and a Movie

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out
to
dinner and a movie. She said, "I love you, but I know this other woman
loves
you and would love to spend some time with you."

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who had
been
a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my 3 children has
made
it possible only to visit her occasionally.

That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.
"What's wrong, are you well?" She asked. My mother is the type of woman
who suspects that a late night call or surprise invitation is a sign of
bad news.

"I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you," I
responded. Just the two of us."

She thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I would like that
very much."

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit
nervous.

When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be
nervous
about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled
her
hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last
wedding anniversary.

She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an Angel's. "I told my
friends
that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed," she
said,
as she got into the car. "They can't wait to hear about our meeting."

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and
cozy.

My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down,
I
had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way
through
the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me.

A nostalgic smile was on her lips. "It was I who used to have to read
the
menu when you were small," she said. " Then it's time that you relax
and let
me return the favor," I responded.

During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation-- nothing
extraordinary
but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so
much
that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said,
"I'll
go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you." I agreed.

"How was your dinner date?" Asked my wife when I got home.

"Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined," I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened
so
suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything for her. Some time
later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from
the
same place where mother and I had dined.

An attached note said: "I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that
I
could be there; but nevertheless I paid for two plates -- one for you
and
the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for
me."

"I love you, son."

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: "I love
you,"
and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve.

Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time
they
deserve, because these things cannot be put off till "some other time."


Somebody said it takes about 6 weeks to get back to normal after you've
had
a baby . . . Somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, "normal"
is
history.

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct . .. Somebody
never
took a 3-year-old shopping.

Somebody said being a mother is boring . . . Somebody never rode in a
car
driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

Somebody said good mothers never raise their voices . . Somebody never
came
out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through
the
neighbor's kitchen window.

Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother . . Somebody
never helped a 4th grader with his math.

Somebody said you can't love the 5th child as much as you love the
first . .
.Somebody doesn't have 5 children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing
questions in the books . . Somebody never had a child stuff beans up
his
nose or in his ears.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery.
Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the 1st day of
kindergarten. Or on a plane headed for military boot camp.

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand
tied
behind her back . Somebody never organized 7 giggling Brownies to sell
cookies.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married.
.
Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son- or daughter-in-law
to a
mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home .
.
Somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell
her
. . . Somebody isn't a mother.

Pass this along to all the "mothers" in your life.

We should also pass it on to anyone who has ever loved and/or lost a
mother.