The Journey -- A Mother's Day tribute
Posted: Saturday, May 02, 2009
by Nila Smith
Fact and Fiction
The young woman stood in the midst of a beautiful garden. As she lifted her face to the clear blue sky and felt the warmth of a brilliant sun, a gentle breeze caressed her face and brought to her the scent of the garden, honey suckle, lilac and lavender.
Before her stood a white picket fence with a gate adorned with an ivy clad trellis. On the other side, a wide smooth path led the way across a rolling green pasture.
The young woman stood beside her mother, and as she turned to gaze into that face, she saw a mingling of emotions, pride, joy, sadness and fear. The elder woman's eyes were glowing brightly with unshed tears.
With uncertainty in her voice the daughter asked the mother; "is this the way I should go"?
The mother reached out to reassure her as she said "yes, this is the path you have chosen. It is a lovely path, full of love and wonder, but you need to know, it is not a certain path.
"As you make this journey, the path will change from day to day. There will be days of happiness, hours of laughter, but there will also be sadness and strife. You will shed tears of joy and pride, but also anger and disappointment. Your heart will burst with abounding love, and break in moments of unbearable pain.
"But in the end my daughter, you will call the journey glorious, and will know it was the best of your life.
"And always know that I am with you. In sprite my love will guide you, as my mother's love guided me."
So the young woman joined herself to her husband, and together they traversed the wide smooth path through green rolling pastures.
Her days were filled with joy and laughter, and the nights brought wonder and bliss. As she lay in the arms of her lover her dreams painted a picture of the future, filled with children in fields of clover, picking dandelion bouquets and weaving necklaces of pure white daisies.
When her dreams were fulfilled, her heart burst with joy, and her song was one of peace, contentment, and supreme happiness.
As she basked in the glory of her life, a small voice came to her, whispering in the wind; "this is the path you have chosen. Cherish this day, for they will not all be like this. But know that I am with you. In spirit my love will guide you."
Time changes all things. The earth rotates from daylight to darkness to light again, the days turn to months, months to seasons, and seasons to years.
As time passed the path of the young woman's life changed with the seasons. It was a barely noticeable thing, yet as she grew with her husband and her children, she began to see the pathway was a bit narrower, a little more crooked, and the rolling green pasture was not as lush as it once was.
When the dark clouds of storm rolled into the sky blocking the sun's light from her view, she stumbled and fell in a path she no longer knew. She cried out in anger, cursing the sun that had deserted her, and then wept in sorrow and shame as she begged for forgiveness.
As the turbulent winds ripped at her body and soul, she reached out into the darkness, seeking those she loved, only to find a vast nothingness. Her heart was broken as she realized they had stumbled away from the path, and were now lost to her. But then, in the roar of the wind came a tiny small voice, slightly a whisper, but yet it drowned out the deafening roar; "this is the path you have chosen. Cherish this day, for it will give you strength and courage. Know that I am with you, in spirit my love will guide you."
The loving mother now gathered all of her strength into one place, she left the path in seek of her children. When she found them fallen, broken and weeping, she gathered them to herself, bringing them upright, she led them back to the path. Holding them close to her she covered her disappointment in their wonderings and whispered soothing words of comfort in their ears.
And as the earth rotates turning daylight to darkness and back to light again, the days turn to seasons, and the seasons to years. The mother watched her children stumble and fall, and her heart cried out in anguish. She saw them flourish and accomplish great feats, and she was filled with joy and pride.
On days the path was smooth and easy with dandelion bouquets and necklaces of snow white daisies, but on others, it became a most difficult journey filled with raging winds, and black clouds of sorrow that hid the sun from her view. But each day she stored away a remembrance of something special; a triumph, a falter, a journey made, a life lived, a dream fulfilled.
When her journey had come full circle, she found herself standing in the beautiful garden once again. On this day she was the elder, gazing into the eyes of her lovely young daughter.
As she lifted her face to the clear blue sky and felt the warmth of a brilliant sun, a gentle breeze caressed her face and brought to her the scent of the garden, honey suckle, lilac and lavender.
The young woman turned to her, with uncertainty in her voice she asked; "is this the way I should go"?
And a mother seasoned with time, strengthened with trials, and bursting with abounding love reached out to reassure her daughter, saying; "yes, this is the path you have chosen. It is a lovely path, full of love and wonder, but you need to know, it is not a certain path.
"As you make this journey, the path will change from day to day. There will be days of happiness, hours of laughter, but there will also be sadness and strife. You will shed tears of joy and pride, but also anger and disappointment. Your heart will burst with abounding love, and break in moments of unbearable pain.
"But in the end my daughter, you will call the journey glorious, and will know it was the best of your life.
"And always know that I am with you. In sprite my love will guide you, as my mothers love guided me."
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)Great article. Well done.As I have said before you are a talented writer. The final sentence is one worth remembering as a Nila Smith quote.Thank you Connor for your kind words.I am still finding it a bit overwhleming when quality writers such as yourself find my work worthy of praise.Thanks againN
Nila,Thank you for a very good article. I enjoyed reading it. My favotire lines are: "As you make this journey, the path will change from day to day. There will be days of happiness, hours of laughter but there will also be sadness and strife..."Thanks Nila.NenitaNenita, thank you for your comments.I am happy to find that there are folks you enjoy my meanderings.N
This was a beautiful article, Nila. My wish for all mothers and daughters is a journey filled with joy, peace, and love. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.SandraThank-you so much SandraI also wish for all mothers and daughters a journey filled with joy, peace, and love, and also one filled with hope and courage to face the bad stuff.N
Nila,I would say yours is a gift. Life is a 'journey glorious' if you can appreciate that it is never exactly what you may have planned or desired.Thank you for this eloquent tribute,NancyThank-you so very much!
Well done. A poignant and beautifully written story. Enough said.Thanks Grammy!!
Wonderful story. A mother's love is most certainly a powerful thing. As my mother is still living, she does guide me through her love. She told me that she has faith in the woman she reared me to be and feels no need to "tell me what to do" but if I need her, her guidance is with me and she is only one phone call away." Great work.Carmellita, thank-you for reading my little story.I too still have my mother in my life, and I am thankful for that every day. She is a remarkable woman in my book, as she married young, went from being a daughter to being a wife then a mother, and a home maker. Then in a moment her life changed completely. She was only 40 when my dad passed, and she had to face a whole new life full of challenges.She has seen all the bright sunny days when life was good, but she has also faced more than her fair share of dark stormy moments, and yet she endures and grows stronger with each trial she faces.To all the women in the world, be ye mothers or daughters, make the best of each sunny day, as they will give you courage to face those that are not so bright and beautiful.N
Nila - what a journey! Very well written. I could smell the flowers :-) You definitely have a gift for telling great stories :-) Blessings to you!Thank-you Teresa!I read your piece about your mom.I think she could probably write volumes on good days and bad days as a mom!I also think she could be an inspiration to all the single moms out there today who are struggling with how to survive and raise their children in the right way!N
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