I received this email, I wanted to share it....................    

Subject: Dinner and Movie  

After 21 years of marriage, My wife wanted me to take

another woman out to dinner and a movie.

She said, "I love you, but I know this other woman

loves you and would love to spend some time with you."

 

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit

was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but

the demands of my work and my three children had made

it possible to visit her only occasionally.

 

That night I called to invite her to go out for

dinner and a movie. "What's wrong, are you well," she

asked? My mother is the type of woman who suspects

that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a

sign of bad news. "I thought that it would be pleasant

to spend some time with you," I responded.

 

"Just the two of us." She thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I would like that very much."

 

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick

her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her

house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous

about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on.

 

She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress

that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding

anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as

radiant as an angel's. "I told my friends that I

was going to go out with my son, and they were

impressed," she said, as she got into the car. "They can't wait to hear

about our meeting." We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy.

 

My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.

After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes

could only read large print. Half way through the

entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there

staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. "It

was I who used to have to read the menu when you were

small," she said.

 

"Then it's time that you relax and let me return the

favor," I responded.

 

During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation-

-nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent

events of each other's life.

 

We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we

arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go out

with you again, but only if you let me invite you." I agreed.

 

"How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got

home. "Very nice. Much more so than I could have

imagined," I answered.

 

A few days later, my mother died of a massive

heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't

have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later,

I received an envelope with a copy ofa restaurant

receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An

attached note said: "I paid this bill in advance. I

wasn't sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I

paid for two plates - one for you and the other for

your wife. You will never know what that night meant

for me. I love you, son."

 

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying

in time: "I LOVE YOU" and to give our loved ones the time that they

deserve.

 

Nothing in life is more important than your family.

Give them the time they deserve, because these

things cannot be put off till "some other time."

 

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back

to normal after you've had a baby ... somebody

doesn't know that once you're a mother, "normal" is history.

 

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by

instinct ... somebody never took a three-year-old

shopping.

 

Somebody said being a mother is boring . somebody

never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

 

Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child

will "turn out good" ... somebody thinks a child

comes with directions and a guarantee.

 

Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their

voices ... somebody never came out the back door just

in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor's

kitchen window.

 

Somebody said you don't need an education to be a

mother.... somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.

 

Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as

much as you love the first .... somebody doesn't have

five children.

 

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to

her child-rearing questions in the books ... somebody

never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.

 

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is

labor and delivery ... somebody never watched her

"baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten .

or on a plane headed for military "boot camp."

 

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes

closed and one hand tied behind her back ... somebody

never organized seven giggling Brownies to sell cookies.

 

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her

child gets married ... somebody doesn't know that

marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a

mother's heartstrings.

 

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last

child leaves home.... somebody never had grandchildren.

 

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so

you don't need to tell her.... somebody isn't a mother.

 

Pass this along to all the "mothers" in your life. I

think we should also pass it on to anyone who has ever

loved and/or lost a mother.

 

  God doesn't call the qualified

 

  He qualifies the called.