Our lives are spent in a circle.
We are born, we learn, we grow up, and then we grow old.
While we are learning to live as independent adults our parents watch over us and see to our needs, our comfort and our safety.
They make us the center of their universe and never tire of teaching us new things.
As we grow older and our parents age, almost without realizing it, the roles often become reversed.
We find ourselves taking over the job that once belonged to them -- the job of caring for their needs, keeping them safe and seeing to their comfort and happiness.
However, caring for an aging parent or other loved one can be a daunting task, but often the joys far outweigh the extra work it takes to accomplish the daily routine.
We often feel overwhelmed by it all.
We feel overly tired and sometimes helpless, especially if they become ill.
It was during one of these low points that I wrote the following letter to my mother, and somehow it helped me put into prospective just how much she meant to me and how blessed I was to have her with me.
May it inspire someone else who is feeling weary and helpless in their task as caregiver.
I titled it Circle of Life.
Dear Mother, Several years ago, I tottered along on legs that were not as strong, not as sure and steady as yours were.
You slowed your steps to match mine, held my hand least I should stumble and fall.
I asked lots of questions, yet you were always patient in your answers, even though I asked the same questions many times.
You prepared my meals with loving hands, always remembering just how I liked my eggs well done, my soup not too hot and my meat cut into small pieces.
You brushed my hair and told me how pretty I was.
You always kissed me goodnight and tucked me in, and said "I love you".
Then as the years went by, I grew up and was able to do things for myself, but I never outgrew the need to hear you say "I love you", although I now have children of my own.
And now, you totter along on legs that are not as strong, not as sure and steady as mine are.
I slow my steps to match yours, hold your hand least you should fall.
I try to be patient in my answers, although you ask me the same question many times.
I prepare your meals with loving hands, remembering how you like your eggs well done, your soup not too hot and your meat cut into small pieces.
I brush your hair and tell you how pretty you are.
I kiss you goodnight, tuck you in and say "I love you Mother.
" My mother lived to the age of 94 and I felt blessed to have her with me for all those years.
Of course I never gave her the letter.
I never let her read it.
After all, I hadn't written it for her, but rather I had written it for myself.
To help remind myself how much I owed her and how important she was in my life.
And also to remind myself that perhaps one day I may need my children to feel the same about me.