Dear Readers: Happy Mother's Day. Please phone your mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, stepmother or foster mother and wish them the best. And please don't forget those for whom this day, for whatever reason, is filled with sadness. Give them a call and say you are thinking of them.

Dear Annie: I received this from a friend and am wondering whether it is complete or whether something was cut off the top. It is profound and very much worth taking note of. — K.G.

Dear K.G.: All you were missing was the title. This has appeared in our space before, and we think it's quite appropriate for Mother's Day:

The Time Is Now (author unknown)

If you are ever going to love me,

Love me now, while I can know

The sweet and tender feelings

Which from true affection flow.

Love me now.

Do not wait until I'm gone

And then have it chiseled in marble,

Sweet words on ice cold stone.

If you have tender thoughts of me

Please tell me now.

If you wait until I am sleeping

Never to awaken,

There will be death between us

And I won't hear you then.

So, if you love me, even a little bit,

Let me know it while I am living

So I can treasure it.

Dear Annie: I read this years ago and thought it would be a nice addition for Mother's Day. Will you print it again? — Jennie in Ohio

Dear Jennie: With pleasure. It's one of our favorites:

Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, "I'm tired and it's getting late. I think I'll go to bed."

She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's lunches, rinsed the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and set up the coffee pot for brewing the next morning. She then put some wet clothes into the dryer, sewed on a loose button, picked up the newspapers strewn on the floor and the game pieces left on the table and put the telephone book back into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket, hung up a towel to dry, wrote a note to the teacher and counted out some cash for the kids' field trip. She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick reminder for the grocery store. She put some water into the dog's dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked.

Mom washed her face, put on moisturizer and brushed and flossed her teeth. Her husband called, "I thought you were going to bed." "I'm on my way," she replied. She looked in on each of the children, turned out a bedside lamp, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks in the hamper and had a brief conversation with the older one who was up doing homework. In her own room, she set the alarm, laid out clothes for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack and added three chores to her list of things to do tomorrow.

About that time, her husband turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular, "I'm going to bed," and he did.

Dear Readers: We know there are fathers who do some of these things, too, and we say, bless every single one of you, and Happy Mother's Day.

This Classic Annie's Mailbox column was originally published in 2012. To find out more about Classic Annie's Mailbox and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit Creators Syndicate at www.creators.com.