Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and I remembered listening to a song years ago when I was quite young. I have not heard it in years and so I looked it up on iTunes and played it again.

It gave me chills as I listened to the words because it is exactly what should be said about moms. I had forgotten that Tammy Wynette sang it and a million thoughts about my childhood came back to me. I hope everyone reads this and thinks about their mother, wherever she may be.

“No Charge”

By Tammy Wynette.

Now our little boy came up to his mom

In the kitchen this evenin’ while she was fixin’ supper

And he handed her a piece of paper he’d been writin’ on

And after wipin’ her hands on her apron

She read it, and this is what it said.

For mowin’ the lawn, five dollars

For makin’ my own bed this week, one dollar

And for goin’ to the store, fifty cents

An’ playin’ with little brother while you went shoppin’, twenty-five cents.

Takin’ out the trash, one dollar

Gettin’ a good report card, five dollars

And for rakin’ the yard, two dollars

Total owed, fourteen seventy-five.

Well, as mom looked at him standin’ there expectantly

And I could see the mem’ries flashing through her mind

And so she picked up the pen, and turnin’ the paper over

This is what she wrote.

For the nine months I carried you growin’ inside me, no charge

For the nights I’ve sat up with you

Doctored you, and prayed for you, no charge

For the time and the tears

That you’ve cost through the years, there’s no charge

And when you add it all up

The full cost of my love is no charge.

For the nights filled with dread

And all the worries ahead, no charge

For advice and the knowledge

And the cost of your college, no charge

For the toys, food and clothes and even for wipin’ your nose

There’s no charge, son

And when you add it all up

The full cost of my love is, no charge.

Well, when he finished readin’

He had great big old tears in his eyes

And he looked up at her standing there and said

Mama, I sure do love you

Then he took the pen,

And in great big letters

He wrote PAID IN FULL.

Lord knows when you add it all up

The cost of real love is, no charge…

To my wife, Bonnie, my sisters and, finally, to my mom, happy Mother’s Day. I love you.

Tribune Publisher Scott Schmeltzer’s column appears every Thursday.