My dearest daughter,

The following was emailed to me the author is unknown to me.

My dearest daughter,
The day that you see me old I ask that you
please have patience and that,
above all, you try to understand,
my dearest daughter...

If, when I talk to you,
I repeat the same things a
thousand and one times
don't interrupt me to point out
that I've already told you that,
instead, please just listen to me
and remember a time when
you were a little girl when I
would read to you the same
story, night after nights, until
you went to sleep.

When I do not want to have
a shower, don't scold me
and please don't try to embarrass
me. Remember, instead, a time
when I had to chase you with a
thousand excuses I invented, in
order to get you to bathe, when
you were a little girl.

When you see my ignorance
of new  technologies,
give me the necessary
time to learn
and please don't roll your
eyes or look at me with a
mocking face.

Remember, my dearest, I
taught you how to do so
many things...
to eat properly...
to dress and groom yourself,
and how you can confront
and deal with life.

The day you notice I become old,
my dearest daughter, please
have patience, and above all,
please try to understand me.

If, occasionally, I lose the
memory or the thread of our
conversation, let me have the
necessary time to remember -
and if I cannot do it, don't
become nervous, or impatient,
or arrogant.

Instead just know in your heart
that the most important thing for
me is to simply be with you and
have you listening to me.

And when my tired
old legs won't let me
walk as before...
give me your hand...
in much the same way I
did for you when you
made your first steps,
and when someday I tell
you that I do not want to
live any more...
that I am ready to die...
please do not get upset
or angry..,
because one day, my dearest
daughter, you will
understand.

Until then, just try to
understand that at my age
we reach a point where we
do not live any more.
We just exist.

When this day comes for
me you must not feel sad,
and or incompetent for
seeing me like this.
Instead, I ask that you be
with me, that you try to
understand me and that you
help me. Help me as I
journey to the end of my life
with love
and with a deep understanding
of and appreciation for the
gift of time and love we were
blessed to share together.

I will thank you...
... by a smile...
and the immense love I have always had for you!
I love you... my dearest daughter!
Your Mother