A Parable On Motherhood
by Temple Bailey
The young mother set her foot
on the path of life.
"Is the way long?" she asked.
And her guide said,
"Yes, and the way is hard.
And you will be old before
you reach the end of it.
But the end will be better
than the beginning."
But the young mother was happy
and she would not believe
that anything could be better
than these years.
So she played with her children
and gathered flowers for them
along the way and bathed with them
in the clear streams;
and the sun shone on them
and life was good,
and the young mother cried,
"Nothing will ever be
lovelier than this."
Then night came, and storm,
and the path was dark
and the children shook
with fear and cold,
and the mother drew them close
and covered them with her mantle
and the children said,
"O mother, we are not afraid,
for you are near,
and no harm can come,"
and the mother said,
"This is better than
the brightness of day,
for I have taught my children courage."
And the morning came,
and there was a hill ahead and
the children climbed and grew weary,
and the mother was weary,
but at all times
she said to the children,
"A little patience and we are there."
So the children climbed and
when they reached the top, they said,
"We could not have done it
without you, mother."
And the mother,
when she lay down that night,
looked up at the stars and said,
"This is a better day than the last,
for my children have learned fortitude
in the face of hardness.
Yesterday I gave them courage,
today I have given them strength."
And the next day came strange clouds
which darkened the earth
~clouds of war and hate and evil~
and the children groped and stumbled
and the mother said, "Look up.
Lift your eyes to the light."
And the children looked
and saw above the clouds
an Everlasting Glory,
and it guided them
and brought them beyond the darkness.
And that night the mother said,
"This is the best day of all,
for I have shown my children GOD."
And the days went on,
and the weeks and the months
and the years,
and the mother grew old,
and she was little and bent.
But her children were tall and strong
and walked with courage.
And when the way was rough
they lifted her,
for she was as light as a feather;
and at last they came to a hill,
and beyond the hill
they could see a shining road
and golden gates flung wide.
And the mother said,
"I have reached the end of my journey.
And now I know that the end
is better than the beginning,
for my children can walk alone,
and their children after them."
And the children said,
"You will always walk with us, Mother,
even when you have gone through the gates."
And they stood and watched her
as she went on alone,
and the gates closed after her.
And they said, "We cannot see her,
but she is with us still.
A mother like ours is more than an memory.
She is a Living Presence."
~ In Loving Memory of Our Mother ~
Rosalie Marie Pye Ledet
March 16,1917 ~ September 25,1998
~ From her Loving Children ~
Daniel Philip Ledet
Feb15,1940 ~ Oct.29,1999
Gerald Joseph Ledet
Gwendolyn Ann Ledet Wallace
Susan Ledet Runkles
Lola Ann Ledet Campbell
Glynn Francis Ledet
Missing you greatly on Mother's Day,
I love you Mom
