A MOTHER’S LOVE

It seems an angel slipped out of heaven and spent the day roaming around on earth. As the sun was setting, he decided he wanted to take along some mementos of his visit. He noticed some lovely roses in a flower garden, plucked the rarest and most beautiful, and made a bouquet to take back to heaven.

Looking on a bit farther, he saw a beautiful little baby smiling at his mother's face. The baby's smile was even prettier than the bouquet of roses, so he took that, too. He was about to leave when he saw the mother's love pouring out like a gushing river toward the little baby in the cradle, and he said to himself, "Oh, that mother's love is the prettiest thing I have seen on earth; I will carry that, too."

He winged his way to heaven, but just outside the pearly gates he decided to examine his mementos to see how well they had made the trip. The flowers had withered, the baby's smile had faded, but the mother's love was still there in all its warmth and beauty. He discarded the withered flowers and the faded smile, gathered all the hosts of heaven around him, and said, "Here's the only thing I found on earth that would keep its beauty all the way to heaven -- it is a mother's love."

-- Unknown, quoted by Barbara Johnson in “So, Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy!”

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