I Dreamed I Saw My Mother's Face

Gone for a fourth of a century And yet I can plainly see My mother's face in the mirror Looking back at me. The gray among the auburn, Those lines around the eyes. She shakes her head and whispers, "It should be no great surprise." There are marks that only sorrow Could have etched upon her face. Mother lived a very full life And she handled it with grace. "Mother dear," I say it gently, "It's so very hard to be, The one whose left, while others Have gone on ahead of me." Mother answered, "You had blessings, Thus you had so much to lose. Would you have chosen differently, Had you the chance to choose?" She went on, "Life's for the living, and You still have much to give. Looking forward, never backward, Is the only way to live." With my mother's tender chiding, I lost some of the pain. She confirmed it's not forever, I will see them all again. My mother's face was dimming, Her grey eyes merging into brown, The only face within the mirror, A reflection of my own. She had left me with the knowledge That she's never far away, And she'll help me with the morrows If I triumph o'er today. won hm