The following was written by Erma Bombeck and originally published in her Mother’s Day column - May 12, 1974
When the Good Lord was creating mothers,
He was into his sixth day of “overtime”
when an angel appeared and said,
“You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”
And the Lord said,
“Have you read the specs on this order?
She has to be completely washable, but not plastic;
Have 180 movable parts... all replaceable;
Run on black coffee and leftovers;
Have a lap that disappears when she stands up;
A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to
a disappointed love affair;
And six pairs of hands.”
The angel shook her head slowly and said,
“Six pairs of hands... no way.”
“It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” said the Lord.
“It’s the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have.”
“That’s on the standard model?” asked the angel.
The Lord nodded. “One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks,
’What are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows.
Another here in the back of her head that sees what she
shouldn’t but what she has to know,
and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child
when he goofs up and say, ’I understand and I love you’ without
so much as uttering a word.”
“Lord,” said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, “Go to bed. Tomorrow...”
“I can’t,” said the Lord, “I’m so close to creating something so close to myself.
Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick...
can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger...
and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower.”
The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. “It’s too soft,” she sighed.
“But she’s tough!” said the Lord excitedly.
“You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure.”
“Can it think?”
“Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise,” said the Creator.
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek.
“There’s a leak,” she pronounced.
“I told You You were trying to push too much into this model.”
“It’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “It’s a tear.”
“What’s it for?”
“It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride.”
“You are a genius,” said the angel.
The Lord looked somber. “I didn’t put it there,” He said.
I feel blessed that through my genealogy work that I have connected with so many mothers....my mother, my mother-in-law, my grandmothers (whom I knew for such a short time and don't have any memories of), my great grandmothers (all four of whom I have or will be doing posts on) and my great-great grandmothers (some of whom I have information on but still some with research to be done on) ... Don't forget all the mother's in your life this Mother's Day.
Mary Post Warren
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