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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To: Military dad (Frank) Thanks for the great
essay on mothers. Funny, I am the daughter of a Military dad named Frank,
but he served in WWll, he was in the Philippines. He only told me one war
story and that was just before he died. It really helped me understand him
a lot better. I believe everyone in combat needs to have a talk it out
session before they re-enter civilian life. He carried a far too
heavy a load after he came home. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Carla </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net
href="mailto:gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net">gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=cstolo@earthlink.net
href="mailto:cstolo@earthlink.net">cstolo@earthlink.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net
href="mailto:gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net">Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies
List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, January 15, 2004 4:53
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [GCFL-discuss] Mothers</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV class=RTE>
<P><BR>For all you ladies out there, keep it up! We salute you!</P>
<P>Military dad (Frank)</P>
<P><FONT size=3>The young mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is this
the long way?" she asked. And the 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."</P>
<P>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 them in the clear streams;
and the sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, "Nothing will ever be
lovelier than this."</P>
<P>Then the night came, and the 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, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are
near, and no harm can come."</P>
<P>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, "Mother, we would not have done it
without you." And the mother, when she lay down at 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."</P>
<P>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 beyond the darkness.
And that night the Mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown
my children God."</P>
<P>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
they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide. And mother said: "I
have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the
beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them."</P>
<P>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 a memory. She is a
living presence."</P>
<P>Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk
down the street, she's the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks
she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not well. Your Mother lives
inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every tear drop. She's the
place you came from, your first home; And she's the map you follow with every
step you take. She's your first love and your first heartbreak, and nothing on
earth can separate you.. Not time, not space...not even death!</P>
<P> </P>
<P>MAY WE NEVER TAKE OUR MOTHERS FOR GRANTED.</P></FONT></DIV></DIV><BR
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