PAID IN FULL

Paid in full  by Shirley Caesar

My  boy came into the kitchen, while I was fixing dinner. He handed me a piece of paper, on which he’d been writing, and asked me to read it. After wiping my hands on my apron, I read the paper. This is what it said:

• for mowing the grass - $5
• for making my bed - $1
• for going to the shop – 50c
• for playing with baby brother, while you were shopping – 25c
• for taking out the rubbish - $1
• for getting a good school report - $5
• for raking up the Yard - $2.

Well, I looked at him, standing there expectantly, and a thousand memories flashed though my mind. So, I picked up the paper, turned it over, and wrote:

• for the 9 months I carried you, growing inside me – no charge
• for the nights I sat up with you, nursed you, prayed for you – no charge
• for the time and the tears, and the cost through the years – no charge
• for the nights filled with dread, and the worries ahead – no charge
• for advice knowledge, and the cost of your college – no charge
• for the toys, food, and clothes, and wiping your nose – no charge
• my son, when you add it all up, the full costs of my love is – no charge.

When he finished reading he had great big tears in his eyes. He looked up at me and said “Mum, I sure do love you”. Then he took a pen and, in great big letters, wrote “Paid in full” on his paper.