What Mama Said

When I was little, I always listened to what Mama said. She usually had such great advice for me. I’m so grateful when I look back on my life that I paid attention to her wisdom. 

I remember when I would stay too long in the sun or forget to wash my face at night, she would say, “You know, that is the only face you are going to have, so you’d better take care of it.” 

When I was a teenager and could buy my own shoes, and my feet hurt, she would say, “Remember those are the only two feet you are ever going to have, so you’d better take care of them.” She said the same thing about my eyes. 

At night, before falling asleep, I would think about what she said. I could picture myself without a face, without feet and without eyes. What a horrible thought. So I told God in my prayers that I would never neglect those things. Now that I’m 95 years old, few people can believe my age. 

Come to think of it, Mama never said anything about taking care of my ears. That is probably why I am deaf in one ear and can’t hear out of the other.