All the love in the heart of a mother -

Raden Adjeng Kartini asked: "Must a woman be obliged
to have a child of her own
in order to be a true mother -
a being who is all love and sacrifice?"

And her own answer was: "How pitifully shallow
is the idea of the world
that it is only a piece of oneself
that can love better than oneself."

For "There are so many
who are called mothers, only because
they have brought children into the world,
but beyond that, they are not worthy of the name."

But "A woman that gives all the love
that is in her heart to others,
with no thought of herself
is, in a spiritual sense - mother."

"We set the spiritual mother higher than the physical."
Hence, we set teachers, the spiritual mother or father,
higher than the physical, be it a mother or a father -
Hence a teacher should always live up to that respect...

When i chose to be a teacher - the reason was that:
to be in the position to help young minds grow,
to be there to give love and care to young hearts,
and the weak and troubled: a strong shoulder to lean on...

Thus i have strived to uphold that pledge i made -
on that fateful day when i signed up to be a teacher...
thus i have struggled on, with a heart that gives -
all that i had promised, when i decided to be a teacher...

And through these thirty-five years of being a teacher -
i think i have helped a child or two along the way,
i think i have delighted and cheered quite a few hearts, too -
and i am sure that i have touched a life or two, yours, too?