Of all the gifts I bring to you
they are but shadows of the single most wonderous gift
that you have given to me,
for you have given me the greatest gift of all,
You have given me life

I don't remember the pain of being born,
though I know I must have cried
And I know the agony of giving birth to me
was for you a very, very intense period of labor
But all that pain subsided,
and mattered to you no more
once you held me in your arms

And all my crying ceased
when you caressed me within your gentle hold,
soothing my infant fears,
and drying the tears upon my cheeks ,
For from that day on,
in those tender moments,
I knew that I would be safe with you

I may not have been the easist child
but I was yours
and you were mine,
my mother,
the woman who raised me
to know right from wrong,
teaching me by example
how to love