Once upon a time, there lived a girl with her mother in a Liberian town. The girl was an educated girl; very humble and kind. Her mother was an old and weak woman who always needed her daughter by her side to keep her company. An hour away from her mom can be like a whole day to her mom because she would miss her darling daughter and be lonely. This sometimes caused her to fall as sleep at every moment.

At the twilight of one Friday, the girl announced to her mom that her childhood friend would celebrate her wedding anniversary and she had been invited for the wedding anniversary party which was slated for Sunday of that week. Her mom was so happy that her childhood friend was celebrating such a great occasion. Her mom wittily said to her, "Take time how you spoil things over there o". And they all laughed.

After a while, her mom deliberately sat and pondered over the outing plan of her daughter. She carefully thought about who would be left home to keep her company if her daughter left for the party on Sunday. So her mother was bothered because definitely she would experience loneliness for that period of time. Suddenly, her daughter came to her and told her that she would go along with her for them to spend quality time together at the party. Eventually, her mother became well pleased and glad that she would go to the party of her daughter's childhood friend. Besides, she would not be left lonely at the house.

On Sunday, when they arrived from Mass her daughter dressed her well and they left for the party. When they arrived the daughter held her mother's hand as they entered the hall for the party. Other invitees and partygoers looked at them and others started to laugh.

All the invitees had a long table that they all gathered around and the partygoers also had their own table. The girl and her mother sat at the invitees' table since they were invited. The table was filled with different types of food, drinks and beverages. Other invitees at the table already started eating and the girl called a waiter to serve them out.

After they were served, the girl and her mother started to eat. The moment her mother started to eat majority of the invitees were not eating any longer because they were watching how the girl's mother would take a spoon of food and it would end up falling on her dress. Some end up falling back into her plate. Other felt on the floor. She took a piece of meat and sucked it and it felt on her dress and stained her clothes. So the invitees at the table were shocked and some were embarrassed by the the way the girl's mother ate. Some other partygoers were laughing at the way the girl's mother was eating. They find that boring and uncomfortable but the girl was calm as she partied with her mother.

After they got through eating, the girl tranquilly took her mom to the lavatory without being bothered. She cleaned her clothes by removing the stains and food particles. She also fixed her hair. When they left the lavatory, everybody within the party hall was looking at them in total silence that they could not understand how a person could accept to ruin his/her day publicly like that. The girl bid farewell to her childhood friend and started walking along with her mother to exit the hall.

An old lady, the eldest among the invitees, called out the girl and asked, "Don't you think you have left something behind?"
And she replied, "No ma'am I've not".
And the old lady responded, "Yes! you have left a lesson back for every girl(daughter) and a hope for every mother".

#Moral Lesson:
Caring for those who once cared for us is one of the greatest honors. Let us love, respect and care for them because we know very well how our parents care for us for every little thing.

© Roland D.