This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off on metal bleachers
at football games Friday night instead of watching from cars, so that
when their kids asked, "Did you see me?" they could say,
"Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.
This is for all 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 OK honey, Mommy's here."
This is for all the mothers of Kosovo who had to flee in the night and
can't find their children. 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.

For all the mothers of the victims of the Colorado shooting, and the
mothers of the murderers.
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.
For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween
costumes.
And all the mothers who DON'T. 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 heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or
daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the
very first time? The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed
to crib at 2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?
The need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you
hear news of a school shooting, an earthquake, a fire, a car accident,
a baby dying?
So this is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and
explained all about making babies.
And for all the mothers who wanted to but just couldn't.
This is for reading "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then
reading it again. "Just one more time."
This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store
and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a tired 2-year old
who wants ice cream before dinner.

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.
. For all the mothers who bite their lips sometimes until they bleed -
when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.
Who lock themselves in the bathroom when babies keep crying and won't stop.
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.
This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their
daughters to sink a jump shot.
This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little
voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own off
spring are at home.

This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on their
children's graves.
.This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the
words to reach them. This is for all the mothers who sent their sons to
school with stomachaches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they
got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an hour later
asking the to please pick them up. Right away!
This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep
deprivation.
And 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. So hang in there.
"Love is what catches you when you fall - and we all fall."