A Promise for Eternity: My Mother

This is a picture of my mother and me. I'm posting it because I had a dream about my mother last night. In the dream I was a little girl, and when I walked past the family photo wall in my bedroom this morning, this one kind of jumped out at me. 

At first I thought I would wait until her birthday to post it, but then it occurred to me that maybe I was supposed to put it up today...that maybe she needed to hear about it right now, for some reason. No time like the present, right? Especially when it comes to telling our moms how much we love them.

Look at her. Isn't she beautiful? And can you see the happy grin on my own face?? Even then, I knew I was loved "fiercely" (her favorite word to describe a deep and powerful way of loving). In fact, my mom thought I was the best thing on two legs...well, besides my other siblings, that is! In fact, those of you who know me personally will no doubt laugh with me at the news that she still thinks I walk on water. Her unflinching, unfailing love and support have informed my life, to a great extent. Any child's self esteem blossoms under such unconditional positive regard, and the need to be heard that caused me to become a writer is probably a direct result of my mother thinking that every word I had to say was worth hearing.

I'd tell you the "rest of the story," but I'll save that for her birthday in April. I just wanted to take the opportunity, Mom, to say on this Wednesday morning that I love you fiercely and am grateful for all the love you've invested in me through the years. Of all the mothers since time began and those who will come after, Heavenly Father knew you were the one for me. And, of course, He was right.

A Promise for Eternity

©2003 by Susan Noyes Anderson, His Children, Vantage-Point Press

I do believe that long ago in the eternities,
I was a bosom friend to you and you a friend to me.
We shared a bond, an understanding that was quick and sure.
I wonder if we knew that it would deepen and endure.
The tie between us had to be the everlasting kind;
for even in this earthly life our paths have intertwined.
We were sisters, bound by a love so meaningful and rare,
that we must have had an inkling of the destiny we’d share.
And once prepared to leave the Father we had always known,
surely we joined hands and vowed to help each other home.
Now that we find ourselves mother and daughter on this earth,
please don’t forget the vow we made and its inherent worth.
For though I know that in this life the burden rests with me,
the promise those two sisters made was for eternity.

PS. Mom's name is Grace Darlene, but she goes by "Darlene."