"TOO LATE AND SAD"
You are listening to "Sunshine on my Shoulder" by John Denver
Dear Ann: I have read your column for many years and have seen several letters from people who have written to say, "I wish I had told my mother or dad, husband, wife or friend how much they meant to me while they were still alive. Now it's too late and I am sick at heart." Well here's another one.
My mother and I never got along very well, I thought she was nosey, bossy, too hard on me and always on my back about something.
After her funeral my aunt gave me some pictures she thought I might like to keep. I saw a young, pretty woman holding a baby girl in her arms. She was looking down at me, smiling, looking ever so proud. That was a side of my mother I never knew.
There were other photographs of my mother as a young bride. I wondered what her dreams were. What did she really want out of life? Was she deeply disappointed that my father didn't do better? How did she feel about my hostility when I was young, my rejection of her and my refusal to accept what she was trying to give? I realize now how much I must have hurt her by being so distant and inaccessible in later years.
Yes, she was hard on me. She was bossy. But I know now she was trying to keep me in line and out of trouble. She wanted me to have a better life than she had.
I would give anything in the world if I could have her back for just two hours so I could tell her I understand now. I would find it very easy to say, "I love you, Mom," words I couldn't get past my lips all those years when I had the chance.
Will you print this letter, Ann, please, for all the children who still have time? How I envy them!--TOO LATE AND SAD
I did not write this letter to Ann Landers, but it brings back a lot of memories of my own mother, who passed away January 15, 1971 and the message is what I would like to have said. My aunt did pass on to me after my mother's funeral a picture of my mother holding me as a child, about 1 year old. This is the only baby picture of me that exists.
