Once, there was a little girl who was taken from her mother, by a cruel and loveless father. He kept her far away from the place where her mother lived, a place of fear. Nevertheless, the little girl never stopped thinking about her mother, she thought of her every day and longed to be with her. Because the little girl's mother wasn't there she began to feel that she resembled her father more than her mother, she could only see his traits reflected in her. She felt she had little worth, because that is what he told her day after day.
One day, she woke up to find her mother had managed to overcome many obstacles and hardships to come and see her. The little girl was overjoyed, she leapt out of bed and rushed into the arms of the mother who loved her, but the day was short, and the visit curtailed abruptly by her father. That night as she went to sleep the little girl could still smell her mother, it was a wondrous smell, she dreamt of her that night. Throughout her childhood, even though the little girl didn't see her mother, she remembered her smell, and her love.
In spite of appearances to the contrary, and also totally against the words of her father, the little girl never had a moments doubt of the love of her mother.
One day the father took his daughter on a long journey to see her grandmother, whilst she was there, her mother arrived, unaware of the visit. The day happened to be Mothers Day. The little girl didn't know what mothers day was, so her grandmother quickly told her and gave her some coins to get some flowers from the street close by. The little girl returned with daffodils, bright golden daffodils that spoke of spring, promises to come.
It was many years later, when the little girl was old enough and strong enough to escape from her father, she spoke to her mother over many miles, 'Mother I need you, please come and rescue me!' The mother didn't hesitate for an instant, without thought of anything other than her child, she raced across country, heedless of anything other than that her child needed her, she overcame many adversities, became fearless in her fight for her daughter. She faced her old enemy and won. All the way back to the place of safety, the young girl could not stop smiling, she even slept a little, safe and secure in her mothers love.
The end of the story? No, the little girl was safe, but her mother convinced that she could have done more, was burdened with guilt. She wasn't even sure that her daughter loved her, and not just glad to escape a cruel life. Many years passed, the young woman and her mother grew closer and closer until at last the mother accepted that she was loved by her child, because she first loved her child.
The most amazing part of this story, though, is that the young woman, though she had not grown up with her mother, resembled her so much, other people confused them. The little girl had grown up to see that the love, goodness and gentleness of her mother were in her after all.
That girl was me....
This story can be applied in many ways
E-mail Kym-Marie directly at: rcadmm@interalpha.co.uk