MY MOTHER-IN-LAW
I married, one evening in autumn,
A rosy-cheeked,
rollicking girl;
Her eyes were as bright as
mid-summer,
Her teeth were like pebbles of pearl.
The presents were early presented,
As handsome
as ever I saw,
But donors quite frequently
whispered:
"Beware of your mother-in-law."
I rented a one story cottage,
Just out of the noise
of town,
And happy as orioles mated,
We settled
contentedly down.
And somehow it presently happened
That bundles and dainties I saw
Pass into the
door of our kitchen,
Sweet gifts from my mother-in-
law.
Sometimes when my labor was heavy,
And
wages exceedingly low,
I sank on my pillow
discouraged,
Bewailing my trials and woe;
But
trouble was suddenly lifted,
And icy ill-humor would thaw,
When round rolling dollars would jingle
From the hand of my mother-in-law.
But once on a cold winter morning
When snow mantled valley and
hill,
The wife I had cherished so fondly
Lay
silent and speechless and still,
And I with two wee
little children
Was left in the world all alone,
To long for a smile that had vanished,
To weep for a face that had gone.
I thought of the sorrows
about me,
I thought of the varied past,
And
wondered what hand in the future
Would fondle my
darlings at last;
And lo, like an angel from heaven,
Through torrents of teardrops I saw,
A form
bending down to my babies,
The form of my mother-in-
law.
-Author Unknown
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