Mother and Child: A Love that Needs No Words

It begins as a wordless devotion,

A simple assumption of love and tenderness expressed at any moment

No, At all moments, even four am feedings

And then those wordless communications, the meeting of eyes and just knowing, develops sound

It starts off as ma, a guttural sound that is a delight to the ears, because it means progress

It shows the binding connection between the two

Suddenly, the delightful noise is repeated. Now she is mama,

And the woman could not be more overjoyed.

And as the years go by, and the child adds more words to her vocabulary, the woman becomes Mommie

A person you run to when you fall off the swing and scrape your knee

Until you don't need someone to kiss your booboos and make them better

Then she morphs into Mom, the woman who attends all your soccer games, and school plays

The woman who protects you from the unknown dangers of the world

All the while irritating you to no end, causing you to lash out with hard words and a sharp

"Mother, you are ruining my life!"

Until one day when you fill her shoes with your own little girl

And you realize how right she was all those years ago, isolating you from the hardships of the world.

And then, as your beautiful angel begs to have sleepovers at grandma's, where you know she is spoiled rotten

You appreciate all the things that she did for you, gave up for you

And then she is gone

With only cold rock with her name inscribed on it in her place

And you are orphaned.