Beautiful Mother....I miss you so much. How do you say good-bye to the only person you've known since before you were born? The one whose voice you'd know anywhere, whose smell can only be mama's Whose hands wiped your tears and held you close The person who held you in her womb like a great secret that only the two of you could know Who whispered to you in the night and nourished your body and your soul How do you say good-bye to the woman who taught you the mysteries of life? Taught you right from wrong Taught you what it really means to be strong Who dreamed of only happiness for you Who helped you to grow and spread your wings and let you fly away though it broke her heart How do you say good-bye to the woman who started out as your mother and ended up as your friend? The woman who fought the hardest battle you've ever witnessed Who never, not once, lost her faith in the Lord The answer is, you don't. You don't say good-bye. You say other things. You say I love you, I respect you, I need you. But you don't say good-bye. You say watch over me from that place on high. Guide me, continue to teach me. And she says, 'You can always reach me. Just close your eyes and say your prayers. I will always be close. I will always be there.' But you don't say good-bye. And someday soon I will carry a secret just between two. And I will carry on the tradition of strong women, raising strong children, children of faith. And my mother will be there in my heart. And the sounds my child will hear will not just be my own but that of my mother who is close by. See, you don't say good-bye because she's not really gone. I carry her inside me, just like she carried me. And you know deep down in your very being that you are your mother's daughter And that is so good and so true, And that is enough for now.