Friday, November 4, 2011

A realization

As you know we lost my Mother-in-law to cancer on June 28th. When we were going thru the stuff in her house I was looking for this cross stitch picture I had made for her about 26 years ago. Today I got the picture in the mail. My Sister-in-law found it and remembered that I wanted it. Here's the cross stitch and the poem that it says.



Our Mother

You are the Mother I received
the day I wed your son.
And I just want to thank you, Mom
for the things that you have done.
You have given me a gracious man
with whom I share my life.
You are his lovely Mother and
I his lucky Wife.
You used to pat his little head,
and now I hold his hand.
You raised in love a little boy
then gave to me a man.

When Mom was in the hospital towards the end of her life, there were 2 days that she was very lucid and was able to chat with each of us. It was during this time that I thanked her for raising a wonderful man. Since then I have put a lot of thought into that conversation and have decided that I want to be that kind of Mother-in-law. The kind that raised good men that make great husbands and Dads. Then 2 days ago I called Bryan, my oldest who is 23, when he was on a date. He very nicely asked if he could call me back tomorrow (which he did) and then told me he loved me. This meant a lot to me and I hope the girl he was on a date with recognized what a wonderful man he is. They say that boys that treat their Moms with respect make the best husbands. As a Mom that was a very proud moment for me.



7 comments:

  1. I thanked my MIL as well before she passed away. It has been 4 1/2 years and I still want to pick up the phone and have a long chat with her. Sounds like you've done a great job with your son.

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  2. Thank you! You just reminded me to make sure to thank my MIL for doing such a great job with her son.
    I hope that my MIL's son and I will do as well with our boy.
    Sounds like "mission accomplished" with you and your son. Well done, Mama!

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  3. What a great poem. It will be one year ago on 11/24 that my MIL passed of cancer. We had a great relationship and I'm glad for that. I hope I have raised
    my son to be a great husband and father. Thanks for reminding us what special
    people our MILs are. Sounds like your son is a fine young man!

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  4. Thank you for sharing this - we found some similar things when my grandmother passed about a year ago, which reminded us of all she did for her husband, children and grandchildren. We are fortunate for strong, loving mothers!
    ~Kristina

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  5. Thank you for sharing this lovely poem. I am sorry to hear that your MIL passed away with Cancer. My mum lost her battle with Breast Cancer 3 years ago and 2 of my 4 sisters have had it too. I had a scare 2 weeks ago.

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  6. Sha, thanks for sharing this sweet post with us. As the Mom of 2 daughters and 2 sons, and the wife of an amazing man, I couldn't agree with you more.

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