A Mother’s Love

The dishes are piled high in the sink,

The fridge guards nothing but a half-gallon of milk and a loaf of bread,

A line of ants is headed toward a spare crumb on the counter,

And she ran out of quarters for the laundromat so she’s on day three of her outfit.

She looked around and smiled.

She truly had everything.

She had enough to feed her children the night before,

She still has enough bread for lunch,

She stayed up reading bedtime stories so late that she fell asleep and forgot to wipe the counters,

And her kids had enough clean clothes for school.

This was more than she had last week,

And the week before that.

She had finally made it.