When your program chairman invited me to be with you tonight,
She also asked me if I thought that I’d have time to write
A little bit about those mothers who have no daughters of their own
Who borrowed a daughter for tonight and left a sad little boy at home.
A little boy who feels his mother doesn’t love him anymore,
Because she left him home from the party, and took the little girl next door.
She said she remembered borrowing a daughter herself for many, many years,
And always felt a little sad because she left her son home in tears.
Tell them not to worry too much, because, soon he’ll be a man,
And the mystery of the Mother’s and Daughter’s Banquet he will understand.
Then perhaps he’ll give you that daughter you have wanted all your life,
When he finds that one and only girl, and takes her for his wife.
I’m sure if we were privileged to pick our children off of trees –
There would be sets of pairs in most every family,
And the boy would always be the eldest, if mother were sure the next would be a girl
Ho brother could look after sister, when he grows up in this world.
That is a little dream that every mother cherishes, but seldom sees come true,
For I think brother will be looking after someone eIse’s sister when he grows up, don’t you?
God was very wise in choosing for us the children he thought best,
Those that would bring into our lives, the greatest happiness.
While this little rhyme was forming in my mind, an old saying came to me –
One that I believe contains more truth than poetry:
“A non Is your son until he takes a wife,
But a daughter is your daughter all of your life. “
Now I know there are quite a few here would say “that isn’t true, “
But whether it is or not, mother, depends a lot on you –
Your son can be your son all of your life, if you are willing to let him go
When he decides to take a wife – but so many mothers, you know,
Feel no other woman can care for her son the way she is willing to do,
They try to guide and keep him, after he’s married too –
And somehow, my sympathy is always with the wife
Who is married to a man who lets his mother rule his life.
So mothers, if you would keep your son after he’s married, be willing to step aside,
And turn him over completely, to his blushing bride.
And if you are willing Io do this, I am sure you will discover,
Thill you have gained a daughter who will love you as her mother.
And mothers of daughters, the reason your daughter is yours all your life,
Is because she will need your help and advice even after she is a wife.
I can remember my sister’s first washday and how stiff she starched her husband’s shirts (tail and all)
When he tried to wear them the top of his trousers looked like a peplum on a skirt.
She came running home to Mother for help in this and many other ways
We girls were asking advice of our Mother to the end of her days.
We mothers could take a wonderful lesson from God’s birds of the air;
Have you ever watched them as they give their offspring such tender, loving
While their feathers are growing, but when their wings have grown,
These children they love, get a gentle shove, and are pushed right out of their home.
Then for a time, their parents help them find, the food they must have to eat
And guard them and warn them of dangers they are apt to meet.
But as soon as they know they are able to go out in this world alone –
They just kiss them goodbye, and away they fly, and their children are on their own.
I believe we mothers of both boys and girls could help ourselves in this way
By going back in memory to our own wedding day –
And think of the things his mother or your mother did, that you know you did not like;
Then let that guide you in the things you do, and I’m sure you’ll do things right.
And so I’ll close this lecture to mothers – that makes me laugh at myself
And say, “Who am I, to have the nerve to try and give advice to someone else”?
But I thank you for listening so patiently, while I got a peeve off my chest;
And to practice what I’ve been preaching, I’ll try to do my best.
If God let’s me stay ’til that wonderful day, and I’m sure the day will come,
When some fine girl in this grand old world, will capture the heart of my son.
With a prayer in my heart, I’ll do my part, and be willing to step aside –
And give all of my son, to his chosen one, and let her be a happy bride.
(And if my 200 pound, six foot football player stays as big as he is,
and I give all of him, I’ll give plenty.)
