BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.

“If you have a gray-haired mother

In the old home far away,

Sit down and write the letter

You put off day by day.

Don’t wait until her tired steps

Reach heaven’s pearly gate—

But show her that you think of her

Before it is too late.

“If you’ve a tender message

Or a loving word to say,

Don’t wait till you forget it,

But whisper it to-day.

Who knows what bitter memories

May haunt you if you wait?—

So make your loved ones happy

Before it is too late.

“We live but in the present,

The future is unknown—

To-morrow is a mystery,

To-day is all our own.

The chance that fortune lends to us

May vanish while we wait,

So spend your life’s rich treasure

Before it is too late.

“The tender words unspoken,

The letter never sent,

The long-forgotten messages,

The wealth of love unspent.

For these some hearts are breaking,

For these some loved ones wait—

So show them that you care for them

Before it is too late.”