he safety of a mother's embrace is timeless and forever yours. It is the only place where fear has no place to be. Though my mother was taken when I was very young, I am grateful to have been able to share twelve memorable years with her. And now as I approach the age of her passing, I still can remember the comforting protection in her arms; her love and tenderness still flutters steadily in my mind.
     I remember I needed only fall into her tender arms to chase away the fears that taunted me, and without a word spoken, her gentle rocking soothed me and told me everything was going to be okay. Anytime I found myself in need of safekeeping, I merely sought refuge under her protective wings, knowing no monster could ever penetrate her well built fortress of affection. And just as fear was removed by her gentle hugs, so was the lack of self-esteem; her promising hold remedied anything and everything that ailed me.
     Through the years after her passing, I've often felt her near—protecting me. I've encountered many foreboding demons which lurked in the shadows of time waiting for a chance to overtake me, but all were subdued and rendered harmless by her protection. At the age of thirteen she gave me the strength to defend myself in a boxing match. Bloody nosed and tattered, at the edge of defeat, I asked for her help and soon her reply came. I swung a crashing blow that sent my competitor to the hard wooden gymnasium floor. For several years that victory served as a warning to other would-be aggressors to peddle their goods elsewhere.
     On my twentieth birthday, while climbing down a two-hundred foot microwave tower, I was saved from a certain death when my climbing gear slipped from my waist and clanged its way to the ground, but for a brief moment my balance was steadied by a strong gust of wind, which allowed me to grip the metal tower and to continue my descent.
     My survival of two head-on collisions, I believe can only be contributed to her protection. In both accidents I wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and because of the speeds involved, I should have been thrown into the windshield, but because of her protection, I was able to walk away from both accidents without a scratch.
     Throughout my life I have learned many things and roller-coasted even more emotions, but I've never seen, touched, heard or felt anything that could come close to the protecting embrace of my mother’s love, even after her death.