Amazing Lady

Dear Mom,

These are the days of your glory
Filled with accolades sent from the crowd
But I wanted to honor you, Son to Mom
If I may be so allowed.

A curtain in life slowly closes
With part of us yearning for more
Now I want to say thank you for turning the key
To so many of life's magic doors.

Your accomplishments rendered an impact
On my life and the way that I view it
I'd be nowhere today, without you and your way
Of teaching me how to go through it.

I remember the days back at Devotion
A second family for me and my brother
We are proud when they ask, as we've been in the past
To say 'Yes, that Ms. Miller is our mother'.

In your classroom I spent half my childhood
The warm feelings strike memories' chords
Helping decorate, season to season
Stapling colors to bulletin boards.

Spending time at your school on the weekends
Was like fulfilling a childhood whim
As you readied your class for your children
We'd spend hours of play in the gym.

'Pizza Nights' always felt very special
Watching movies with dozens of kids
It's a memory, sublime, of an innocent time
Like pizza leftovers stuffed in life's fridge.

My school years were blessed with a challenge
Your reputation was tough to uphold
But I'm better today, having had it that way
As the lesson's you've taught me unfold.

Expectations were high from my teachers
But my grammar has long been a train wreck
Though you taught me to strive, and my limits to find
I Thank God for Bill Gates and his spell check.

Now your legacy often precedes me
As I encounter past students you've taught
My path is well paved, and I've sometimes been saved
My success, like insurance you bought.

Through thirty great years, your life was painted
With handprints of every shade
You've accommodated myriad walks of life
In the relationships you have made.

Like a crayon box, we all take on hues
A uniqueness in each brilliant taper
And you've accepted me, and the shape that I've cut
Amid the bulletin board's multi-colored paper.

It's a topic too often unspoken
But to me it's the deepest to share
To acknowledge the fact it's uneasy to grasp
But through clouds of confusion, you care.

And my heart wants it said, as we start this new phase
The word family means very much
Think of bygone days, for a family stays
Forever, each other's strong crutch.

I Love you Mom, and I thank you
And I hold you in such high regard
For you've been there throughout, through our life's ins and outs
Through the happiest times and the hard.

And I look to the future, excited
Though retirement's laced with chagrin
But these days are like wine, and will yield family time
As the next thirty years begin.

So here's to tomorrow, together
Wishing long summer days, warm and shady
From a son and a student who owes you the world
You are such an amazing lady.

By Henry