NO CHARGE...

My little girl came up to me in the kitchen this evenin'

While I was fixin supper
And she handed me a piece of paper she’d been writin on
And after wipin my hands on my apron
I read it - and this is what it said:

For mowin the yard - five dollars
And for makin my own bed this week - one dollar
And for goin to the store - fifty cents
An playin with little sister, while you went to the store - twenty-five cents
Takin out the trash - one dollar
Gettin a good report card - five dollars
And for rakin the yard - two dollars
Total owed – fourteen dollars and seventy-five cents.

How many little notes have your children written to you? Some just say I love you and other say I am sorry. More say can we do this or go here. Regardless of what they say, they are PRICELESS!! Any note written or picture drawn, just for you, by your child to you is a keepsake. I have a whole box full of little notes that the girls have left me over the years. In going through Heather’s things I found that she kept just about every single one I had ever written to her. I even found a post card that Bill sent to her back in 1990. It was bent and torn and much loved. Remembering back I am sure she slept with it for days.

Heather went for a week to Piano Camp in Flagstaff. This was her first time ever away from home and away from Mom and family as well. Her roommate was not a good match for her. During this week of camp I drove back up three times. We dropped her off on Saturday, I went back up on Monday to move her to a different room, back Wednesday to visit and then on Friday to get her because she was sick. It was really funny that the camp leader thought she was faking, but she threw up several times and was beyond exhausted. She slept for over 20 hours her first day home. Come to find out NAU had an outbreak of Norovirus the exact same time Heather was there. I sent her mail and packages every day and got online and let some of her friends know she was struggling. She kept every single note during that time. I read them, think about what I am going to do with them and then place them back in the box and put them away. Maybe someday I will be able to get rid of these. But today is not that day.

Well, I looked at her standin there expectantly
And a thousand memories flashed through my mind
So I picked up the pen, turnin the paper over,
This is what I wrote:

For nine months I carried you,
Growin inside me - NO CHARGE
For the nights I've sat up with you,
Doctored you, prayed for you - NO CHARGE

For the toys, food, clothes and wipin’ your nose – 

NO CHARGE
When you add it all up.
The full cost of my love is NO CHARGE.

Well, when she finished readin'
She had great big old tears in her eyes
And she looked up at her standing there and said
Momy, I sure do love you
Then she took the pen,
And in great big letters
She wrote PAID IN FULL.
When you add it all up
The cost of real love is, no charge..

~No Charge~Tammy Wynette~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYE9qpa0GT0

A mother’s love is fully unconditional. In the words of Celine Dion’s song Miracle, “there is nothing you could ever do, to make me stop loving you,” says it all as to how a mother feels. As a mother your heart breaks when your child is sick, has a fever, cold or the stomach flu. Now imagine your child is considered an adult in the eyes of the world and she has cancer. She has to sign a medical power of attorney now for you to get her care. The doctors don’t really want to talk to you they want to talk to your child, the adult, who is drugged to the point of not caring about a thing they are saying. Sitting silently as chemo drugs drip into your child and she lays motionless and sick in the bed next to you; having to stand firm between your child and the medical staff acting like a guard dog, fighting for the safety and wellness of your child. Watching horrible things happen to your child and there is not one single thing you can do. Your heart breaking with every day that passes. There still is NO CHARGE for my love and support thru all that Heather went through. My heart breaks but my love, my unconditional love has never changed or waivered…and it never will. The full cost of having my love, is –NO CHARGE…