This story provided by Quote of the Day at Red Rose Naturals, whose site disappeared awhile back and their newest site is still under construction. =( Hurry back soon!
"No matter how old a mother is, she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement."
--Florida Scott-Maxwell
With six children, all born within nine years, my mother had her hands full. Little hooligans, we chased each other inside the house, tracking in dirt, upsetting lamps on tables; we chased around the neighborhoods, throwing water balloons at passing cars, running barefoot on the slate sidewalks in the pouring rain, slipping and cracking our heads open, running around the yard with willow tree switches, whipping and whooping and causing all kinds of damage to the flower beds and each other. My mother would scream at us to get us to behave, "You kids will be the death of me yet!" Well, she survived in spite of our terror. In her last letter, she tucked this tidbit, cut from one of her inspirational sources:
So far today, I've done all right,
I haven't gossiped, or lost my temper.
I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty,
selfish, or overindulgent.
I'm very grateful for that.
But in a few minutes, Lord,
I'm going to get out of bed,
and from then on,
I'm probably going to need
a lot more help.