“Mothers” Part Two

Today, being Mother’s Day, brings bittersweet thoughts and memories. I published this poem once before, but it seems to be appropriate to do so again, seeing what day it is. The most unselfish gift a mother can give their child is a home of safety, of love, of sacrifice. Sometimes that sacrifice comes in the form of giving that child to a family that is better able to care for it in a way that you are unable to do at this point in your life. I hope you see the two different types of “mother” in “My Legacy to Life”.

Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone;
Both I carried craddled beneath my heart.
One I love in life – the other is loved through memory,
But both I love equally and fiercely.
One looks upon me with loving & trusting eyes,
While the other looks upon another.
Yet both remain forever a part of my heart, of my soul.

One is with me in body – the other in spirit.
One I cry with – the other I cry for.
One brings to my life sunshine, laughter and love;
The other brings to my life a deep longing.

Both make their footprints upon this earth;
One with me – the other without me.
One continues to touch me with his presence;
The other with her absence;
and I continue to learn from both.

One is with me day & night, the other is with me no more,
Yet bothe are deeply of my life, of my heart, of my soul.
I may have given life to both,
. . . but both have returned life to me.

Would that the world could feel a tenth
of what he and she have given me.

written by Ingrid Ewikowski
March 4, 1996

Until next time,

Inge