One calm, bright, sweet, sunshiny day, an angel slipped out of heaven and came
down to this old world and roamed field and forest, city and hamlet. Just as the
sun was setting, she spread her wings and said, "Now my visit is over and I must
go back to the world of light. But before I go, I would like to take along some
mementos of my visit here."
She noticed a beautiful flower garden and said, "How lovely and fragrant these
flowers are." She plucked the rarest and most beautiful roses and made a
bouquet and said, "I see nothing more beautiful and fragrant than these; I will take
them back to heaven with me."
Looking on a little further, she saw a bright eyed, rosy cheeked baby, smiling into
it mother's face. And she said, "Oh, that baby's smile is even prettier than this
bouquet of roses; I will take that, too!"
Then she looked just beyond the cradle and there was a mother's love pouring out like the gush of a river toward the cradle and the baby. And she said to
herself, "Oh, that mother's love is the prettiest thing I have seen on earth;
I will carry that, too."
With the three treasures she winged her way back to heaven. When she got
outside the pearly gates, she decided to examine her mementos to see how well
they had made the trip. She looked at the flowers and they had wilted. She looked
at the baby's smile and it had faded. She looked at the mother's love and it was
still there in its warmth and in all it pristine beauty.
She threw aside the wilted flowers and the faded smile, and winged her way
through the gates. She led all the hosts of heaven together and said, "Here is the
only thing I found on earth that would keep its beauty all the way to heaven ...
It is a Mother's Love."
