As children across the country enter a new year of school, we take the time to look at one of Ruth’s prayers about watching her daughter, Virginia, grow into a young mother herself.

May your moments with your children be full and blessed.

It seems but yesterday
you lay
new in my arms.
Into our lives you brought
sunshine
and laughter—
play—
showers, too,
and song.
Headstrong,
heartstrong,
gay,
tender, beyond believing,
simple in faith,
clear-eyed,
shy,
eager for life—
you left us
rich in memories,
little wife.
And now today
I hear you say
words beyond your years.
I watch you play
with your small son,
tenderest of mothers.
Years slip away—
today
we are mothers
together.

—Ruth Graham, from “Mothers Together”