Mother's Day - ' sleep tight until the morning light'

            Walking past dozens of Mother's Day cards in the store, I can't help thinking of all of those who've lost their mother, and how much their hearts must ache whenever this holiday rolls around. Even if your mother is still alive or is sadly no longer here, there is one thing that lasts forever – their advice.

            On this Mother's Day, I'd like to share some of the gems I've heard, not only from my mom but from the women in my life I consider "mom figures" for their zest for living, strength in getting up when life knocked them down and honesty in telling me to pull on my big-girl pants and get on with life when I needed  a kick start.

            "Your face will freeze like that." This line was my least favorite as a kid. I vowed I'd never say those words to my children, but when my youngest son stuck out his tongue at me, they came tumbling out of my mouth. The result wasn't what I expected.

            "Really!" he said, his eyes getting big. "Can my face really freeze like this because that would be so cool."

            So much for that gem.

            "You need to clean your plate because there are starving children in China." I can blame my constant battle with the scale on these few words because, growing up Catholic, guilt was the cornerstone of my life.  

            No way I could ever leave those green beans on the plate and not picture the starving Chinese as I tried to go to sleep. Believing my sons would share my same guilt when I piled green beans on their plate, I did not get the same reaction.

            "Not even starving Chinese people would eat those green beans," they said.

            My Cajun grandmother could always be counted on to say something mysterious about life. One summer, she was visiting and saw me eat the soft part of my sandwich and leave the crust on the plate.

            "If you don't eat the crust, you won't have lace on your blouse," she said. I gobbled up the crust, never thinking she might be pulling my leg to get me to eat all my lunch.

            I tried that approach on my nieces when they were young. They looked at me and said, "Aunt Denise, eating the crust won't put lace on your blouse. Lace comes from the store."

            How come I wasn't that smart at five?

            My mom, however, is the deep well of wise words. When I was pregnant, I always carried the baby at least two weeks past my due date.

            "When the apple's ripe, it will fall from the tree," my mother said over and over.

            Ten days after my due date, she said those words for the hundredth time, and my volcanic reply was I hoped that apple rotted.

            Despite the clichés, there are words from the smart women in my life I'll always treasure. My aunt's words to me when I was an ugly duckling seventh grader: "What counts is what's in your heart and your head, not what you look like on the outside, even though you are beautiful."

            And, my favorite words:  "sleep tight until the morning light" as my mom kissed me on the forehead and tucked the covers up under my chin before gently turning out the light.

            Because they meant so much to me, I've said those words to my boys when I tucked them into bed, and I whisper them to my grandchildren when they spend the night.

            On this Mother's Day, I hope all moms, including dads, aunts, friends, cousins and grandmothers who serve as mom,  have a happy and blessed Mother's Day.

 This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.