It is better to give them a little now than to give them the world when they are gone
The world is full of sons and daughters like you and me
I had a marvelous mother, who loved me, sacrificed for me and helped me in every way possible.
In all of my growing up from childhood through school and eventually marriage, my mother was always at my side.
And when I needed help with my little ones, she was there for me.
A few years ago, we buried this wonderful woman. Can you imagine how I felt when I returned home and
Found poem in her drawer written by my mom.
The time is now
If you are ever going to love
Love me now while I can know
The sweet and tender feelings
Which from true affection flow
Love me now while I am living
Do not wait until I am gone
And then have it chiseled in marble
Sweet words on ice-cold stone
If you have tender thoughts of me
Please let me know now
If you wait until I am sleeping
There will be death between us
And I will not hear you then
So if you love me, even a little bit
Let me know while I am living
So that I can treasure it
Your loving mum
Now she is gone and I am sick with guilt because I never told her what she meant to me. Worse yet, I did not treat her as she deserved to be treated. I found time for everyone and everything else but I never made time for her.
It would have been easy to drop in for a cup of tea and a hug but my friends came first.
Would any of them have done for me what my mother did? I know the answer.
When I called mom on the phone, I was always in a hurry.
I feel ashamed when I think of the times I cut her off, the times I retorted back to her,
The times I glared at her in an angry mood when she wanted to correct me and guide me through the correct path.
I remember too, the times I could have included her in a trip out and did not.
My children loved Grandma from the times they were babies. They often turn to her for comfort and advice.
She understood them.
I realize now that I was too critical, too short-tempered, too stingy with praise.
Grandma gave them unconditional love.
The world is filled with sons, daughters and a child like me. I hope they see themselves in this letter and realise from it.
Reflections
This story highlights that we must do whatever we can when our parents are alive to appreciate what we say or do, however little that may be.
Very often we are willing to spend thousands to give them a grand funeral with the most elaborate preparations and expensive coffins and so on. We are willing have memorials without fail year after year. We give alms in memory of our late parents but we could not afford to spend some time with them when they were with us before their death. We were too busy with our lives.
How much do we treasure our parents? They may not be perfect but it is undeniable that they deserve more than what we are doing for them now.
We may be cruel to them or we may even be criminals but to our parents we are still good children and they continue to justify why have become bad. They blame everybody else for their children being bad except them as they believe their children cannot have gone bad by themselves.
Nobody in the world does that. Many will flock to us when we are in a position to give but none when we are down and out. Our parents are the only ones who will be there with us and for us whether we are good or bad, up or down till their last breaths.
Let us search our hearts to see where we have placed our parents in it. If they are not in our hearts it is time to make a place for them there now. If they already there as in many of us, it is time to give them a little more. Let us not do something or fail to do it that we will regret later as it will be too late.
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