Dear Mother, as I rock my own baby in my arms
And thrill with his smiles and sweet baby charms,
I dream of those days in years long ago
When I was the baby you rocked to and fro.
Then in memories I follow my life through the years,
With you ever present to calm all my fears,
You were such a good mother so patient and kind,
A dear sweeter mother I never could find.
But why is it I wonder we must wait ’til we’ re grown
Hold in our arms a child of our own,
Feel in our hearts this great mother love
God’s sweetest blessing from heaven above.
To know though in childhood we loved you so much,
We realize now it was not enough;
Mother’s love is a debt we can never repay
But I am thankful dear mother, that God let you stay.
Until I too was a mother and realize now,
What you did for me, and dear Mother, some now
I’m sorry for all the mean things I did
That worried you so when I was a kid.
And I’m sorry too, if I caused any tears,
By unkind words in my girlhood years,
And I remember well as I approached womanhood,
I didn’t always take your advice as I should.
I thought you were old fashioned, I thought I knew best,
But your road was the road to happiness.
All the good in me now I owe Mother to you,
To the best of all Mothers so faithful and true,
And all that I ask is that God let me be
As dear to my children as you are to me.
And I have another Mother so patient and kind,
To her I owe that dear husband of mine.
In her heart are sweet memories of years long ago,
When he was the baby she rocked to and fro.
I hope and I pray that some day I’ll be
As dear to my Son’s Wife, as she is to me.
