Now we are four

Every time my mom comes over she always brings a bag filled with things. Usually there is food. Sometimes there is mail from New York, or some pictures, or stickers for Amelia or my mom’s latest knitting creation. The last time she came over she brought a slim volume called The Beauty of Motherhood: Selected Writings About the Joys of Being a Mother. It was published in 1967 by Hallmark Cards. There are poems and excerpts from writers including Helen Keller, John Quincy Adams and Washington Irving.

I think this poem from Meredith Gray is my favourite:

I’d rather be a mother
Than anyone on earth –
Bringing up a child or two
Of unpretentious birth.

I’d rather tuck a little child
All safe and sound in bed –
Than twine a chain of diamonds
About my foolish head.

I’d rather wash a smudgy face
With round, bright baby eyes –
Than paint the pageantry of fame,
Or walk among the wise.

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