"HIS MOTHER"

The following poem rings so true as to how I feel about my mother-in-law who passed away in '91 of breast cancer. I learned so much from her in such a short time. She was completely devoted to James, yet loved me and supported me as a young wife. Never offering or pushing her opinion on us with out us first asking for it. I value and appreciate what she taught James and the relationship that they had. She was truly his biggest cheerleader and his best friend. I watched him love her as she died and knew that the same tenderness and love he showed her those last days where exactly what I could find comfort in, in knowing that he truly knew how to love, respect and value the loves in his life. Watching him with her made me fall in love with him all over again. Probably deeper than I ever thought possible. Her last word she said was a loving mother instructing her oldest son, how to love me. That proved to me the love and value she had for me. She told him "Never make her guess or wonder how you feel about her, never let a day do by that she does not KNOW how much you value her. NEVER make her ask you or question if you love her. James, love her with your whole being."

As I take my journey on learning the kind of mother-in-law I yern to be, I often think of her.
I just pray I am as good of a student as she was a teacher.

“Mother-in-Law” they say, and yet,
Somehow, I simply can’t forget
T’was you who watched his baby ways
who taught him his first hymn of praise
who smiled at him with loving pride
when he first toddled by your side.

“Mother-in-law”, but oh, t’was you,
who taught him to be kind and true.
When he was tired, almost asleep,
T’was to your arms he used to creep.
And when he bruised his tiny knee,
T’was you who kissed it tenderly.

“Mother-in-law” they say, and yet,
Somehow I never shall forget,
how very much I owe
to you, who taught him how to grow.
You trained your son to look above,
you made of him, the man I love.
And so, I think of that today.
Ah, then with thankful heart I’ll say.