Monday, May 15, 2017

An Ode To Mothers

I always tell my mother: I am just one of four children. But you are an "only mother"!

Here is something I saw:

Being a mother isn't simply
A matter of having children.
To think that is as absurd
As believing that having a piano
Makes one a musician.  

It is true that you may occasionally overhear a mother say
"Children must have their naps,
It's mother who knows best."
When what she really means by that
Is that she needs a rest. 

And yet of all the home remedies,
A good wife and mother is still the best. 
For a mother is the only person on earth
Who can divide her love among ten children
And each child still have all her love. 

Why, some people even say
It takes a hundred men to make an encampment,
But one woman to make a home.

Most of all the beautiful things in life
Come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds.
Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows,
Brothers, and sisters, aunts and cousins,
But you've only one mother in the whole world. 

אשת חיל מי ימצא
ורחוק מפנינים מכרה
קמו בניה ויאשרוה בעלה ויהללה
שקר החן והבל היופי
אשה יראת ה' היא תתהלל
תנו לה מפרי ידיה ויהללו בשערים מעשיה 

A woman of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
Her children arise and call her blessed
Charm is false and beauty is vain
But a woman who fears the Hashem is to be praised.
Give her the fruits of her handiwork and they will praise her deeds in the gates