Sometimes I know the words to say,
Give thanks for all you've done,
But then they up and fly away,
As quickly as they come.

How can you possibly thank enough,
The one who makes you whole,
The one to whom you owe your life,
The forming of your soul?

The one who's always been there for you,
The one who always will,
The one who's right behind you,
As you make your way uphill.

The one who tucked you in at night,
The one who stopped you crying,
The one who was the expert,
At picking up when you were lying.

The one who saw you off to school,
And spent sad days alone,
Yet magically produced a smile,
As soon as you came home.

The one who's heart breaks every time,
You grow a little older,
The furnace of her heart glows when you smile,
And when you're sad, grows colder.

Who always wants the best for you,
No matter what the cost,
Spending all her strength to make you whole,
As parts of her are lost.

Who doesn't like to see you hurt, 
Who always feels your pain,
But glows the strength and hope you need,
To make it through the rain.

The one who understands you,
Like no one ever can,
Who hurts when you are hurting,
But still reaches out her hand.

The one who makes such sacrifice,
To always put you first,
Who lets you test your broken wings,
In spite of how it hurts.

Who paints the world a rainbow,
When it's filled with broken dreams,
Who explains it all so clearly,
When nothing's what it seems.

Who smiles when she is crumbling,
But rarely lets you see,
Who never says to be the best,
"It's just okay to BE."

Are there really any words for this?
I find this question tough...
Anything I want to say,
Just doesn't seem enough.

What way is there to thank you,
For your heart, your sweat, your tears,
For ten thousand little things you've done,
For oh! So many years?

For changing with me as I changed,
Accepting all my flaws,
Not loving 'cause you had to,
But loving "just because."

For showing me how to love your job,
For showing me how to give,
For showing me it's okay to need,
For showing me how to live.

For never giving up on me,
When my own wits reached their end,
For always being proud of me,
For being my best friend.

For being crutches when I could not stand,
A cushion when I fall,
Always there to listen,
Always there to call.

There is just one person,
Who still thinks I'm the best,
Who even after all these years,
Has yet had time to rest.

The one who toils to pave a road, 
Down which her child may safely tread,
And sews that child a quilt of dreams,
Then drapes it 'round her head.

And so I come to realize,
The only way to say,
The only thank you that's enough,
Is clear in just one way.

Mother, take a look at me,
Look who I've become,
Who was it that made me whole?
Who's job is never done? 

Mother, don't see passing years,
As the losing of your youth,
You channel yourself into me,
And I am living proof.

Look at me before you,
See what I've become,
Do you see yourself in me?
The job that you have done?

Here I stand, a product--
Just when you'd thought you'd lost yourself,
I emerge a duplicate,
YOU in someone else.

All your hopes and all your dreams,
The strength that no one sees,
A transfer over many years,

Thank you for the gifts you give,
For everything you do, 
But thank you mother most of all,
For making me into you. 

~ Laurie Kalb ~