A parable on motherhood....

This is a short story by Temple Bailey that I read at my grandmother's funeral. My grandmother was very much like the woman in this story....she is more than a memory....

A Parable on Motherhood by Temple Bailey

The young mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is the way long?" she asked. And her 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 those 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 life was good, and the young mother cried, "Nothing will never be lovelier than this."

Then night came, and 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, "Oh Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come," and the mother said, "This is better than the brightness of day, for I have taught my children courage."

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, "We could not have done it without you, Mother." And the mother, when she lay down that 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 then strength."

And with 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 and brought 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. And 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 the hill they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide. And the mother said, "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know that 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."

My Grandma Rita....

The weekend after labor day we took our little man to Iowa to visit my grandparents. My grandmother was in the hospital because of complications arising from lung cancer. My grandfather has alzheimer's. My grandmother was very frail and barely had the strength to feed herself. She lit up when she saw our baby though. He laid in the hospital bed beside her for a while and she loved every minute of it. My grandfather was so surprised by the baby but held him and cuddled him.

It was a priceless weekend. I'll forever be thankful that we went to visit when we did because my grandmother passed away on Sept 19th. We flew back to Iowa for the funeral. It was good to be around our family but it also didn't feel the same without her there. I had an amazing grandmother. Words can't really explain her. Her family and her faith were so important to her. And she passed that on to her children and grandchildren.

In the midst of all that Sept 22nd was the anniversary of our egg transfer. I look at the picture of those two precious embryos and I'm so thankful that a year later I'm cuddling a wiggly, giggly 14 lb baby boy. I said a special prayer that the Lord will protect our little frozen embryo until we're ready to expand our family.