The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-04-21
MOTHERS DAY.
What our Mothers have Done for
Us and what we owe to Our
Mothers Memory.

preLty 1ull account OF Cne origin ana pur-
pose of Mothers Day, which will here
after be observed on the second Sunday
in May, the anniversary falling this
year on the 9th.
From the pen of William E. Sheffield,
of St. Augustine, Fla, the Stroudsburg
Record pays the mother touching tri-
butte, from which the following sugges-
tions are culled:
Do not forget that she risked her life
for you, and that there was not one
moment in all her years, If the occasion
required it, that she would not have
willingly given it that you might be
spared.
Don't forget that while she is here, it
is not only your privilege, but your duty
to give her in every way imaginable,
loving consideration; utmost respect.
Do not withhold the caress, it is the one
thing you cannot overdo. 1t will give
her new life. 1t will keep the pallor and
wrinkles from her face. Can you not
see that day by day the lines are grow
ing deeper, the eye less brilliant and
more sunken, the oft-rising sigh much
longer and deeper? Her laughter is not
80 much in evidence, nor has it the sill
very ring it used to have in days gone
by.
She cannot sweep and scrub as she
could in past days. The rheumatism
has begun to twist her fingers, and she
has to sit down and rest oftener than
she used to. Are you blind ? Can you
not see she is failing, and that the grass
hopper is beginning to be burden?
Do you take the broom or scrubbing
brush from her hand and gently lead
her to an easy chair on the porch, and
do the work which she was trying and
willing to do, even though her strength
did not warrant Or doy you thoughtlessly
bring your young friends to the house
and have nice time, and then, when
they are gone let mother clear away the
disorder, or perchance stand over the
stove, baking good things for you and
yours while the swollen veins in her fail
ing body are bursting under the strain ?
Do you tell others how it worries you
to see her failing day byday, yet sit with
your friends enjoying life; and by the
piano sweetly singing, WHAT'S Home
without Mother ?'' or that other sweet
song, ,-"Who will care for Mothernow?"
while that same mother is in the kitch-
en- sweating over the fire to make good
les for you, and drudging as the strains
of your pathetic voice fill the air ?
o, quit this! Wake up and do some-
thing while she yet is here. Don't wait
until she lies with folded hands over a
silent breast, and then smother her
mound in the church yard with flowers.
No, begin now! Make her leave the
kitchen. Show her you are in earnest.
Take her with you into the parlor and
after lovingly tucking her in an easy
chair beside that same piano, play and
sing to her some of those old lullabys
which she used to sing to you as she
snuggled you closely in her arms and
crooned them to you in the long ago.
Or have, you married and gone from
that house and been successful in life
and accumulated riches, and pass her
on the street while driving in your
carriage with lackeys in livery, and stop
not to pick her up, simply because her
garments are old fashioned Or do you
refrain from going to take her out for a
drive in fear she might expect you to do
so regularly and thus make it onerous
for you Have you forgotten how many
times many years ago she took you out
driving in the little old fashioned car
riage while she acted as the horse ? These
are live and pertinent questions, and
don't fear to catechise yourself on this
line; it will do you good.
Do you visit asylums, and cater to the
inmates, but forget that bunch of
roses for mother dear would bring more
perfume of contentment and pleasure
to you than ministering to hospitals and
asylums, while neglecting her?
Remember that in the course of events
there will come time when the win
dows will be darkened and that dear
one will silently lie in the parlor never
again to sweep, or scrub, or bake.
Friends will gather around to honor the
memory Of that same dear mother, the
one whom perhaps you in life thought
lessly, not willfully, neglected, then you
will hear those awful words-"Dust to
dust-Ashes to ashes"
If you have done your duty to her the
occasion will be less sad, for you can
feel with a measure of certainty that the
time will come when you can meet hel
again, and in an endless cycle bestow
upon her love which, starting here be-
low, will blossom into an everlasting
realization.
On the other hand if you neglect
would be too painful to finish the sen,