by Michelle De Ford
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0511-26.htm<snip>
As your children grow up they present you with cards, flowers, and poems. They bring you breakfast in bed and make your day as special as they know how. All of those good memories don't compare with the first time that you held them. At that moment you feel so much love for them that you know without a doubt you would give your life for theirs should it be required. It is one of the greatest privileges of life to watch them grow and become the people that you knew they could be. This is the natural order of life.
For some of us this Mother's Day means something different. In my case, I now have the memory of the last time I held my eldest child. We were standing in line at the Airport. I can still feel his arms around me and his chin resting on my head. My eyes were full of tears and he tried to comfort me by saying he would call every chance he got. I tried desperately not to cry, I didn't want him to feel sad. David already had enough on his plate. He was headed for Iraq. He chuckled and said, "come on Mom, there are 130 thousand guys over there what are the odds?"...