Happy Mother's Day!

 

To fathers and mothers

And to their children too,

I guess by now that you know

This means to both me and you.

If you are not a mother or father

You must be a child

And if you are an orphan like me,

Both parents would have died.

It is my first Mother’s Day

Since my mother has left

She had had enough of me

And so, she took her rest.

 

I miss her like crazy

And I miss my father also

But thank God they didn’t go together

But, I guess you know.

An old man once told me

There are two reasons for everything,

At the time he was ninety-three

And in my head, this still rings.

One was primary

While the other was secondary

And when we mix up the two reasons

It’s a recipe for misery.

He said for example:

We should eat to live,

Not the other way around

Which is living to eat.

The primary reason for food

He said, is nutrition,

Pleasure is the secondary reason

And we must not change its position.

When we do, it causes trouble:

Like heart attacks and strokes

And I dare say to you, my friend,

Not only with the older folks.

Back to Mother's day, however,

For its two main reasons,

Listen carefully, I admonish,

Particularly at this season.

The primary reason for Mother's Day

Is about the family,

The secondary reason is about mothers,

I trust you agree.

Let’s change them back

Since I think we have them wrong

And cause family to grow

For it needs to be made strong.

Mother's Day and Father's Day

Must be about family

And so, as we celebrate Mother's Day

Please spare a thought for me.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone

To mothers and fathers and children too.

A shout-out to family in a gigantic way,

Be happy everyone on this wonderful day!

Stewart Russell © May 2020