Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered.
Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother.
The first said, "
I built a big house for our mother."
The second said, "
I sent her a Mercedes."
The third smiled and said, "I've got you both beat. You remember how mom enjoyed
reading the Bible?
And you know she can't see very well. So I sent her a remarkable parrot that
recites the entire Bible.
It took elders in the church 12 years to teach him. He's one of a kind. Mom just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot recites it."
Soon thereafter, mom sent out her letters of thanks:
"Milton," she wrote one son, "The house you built is too huge. I live in only one room, but I have to keep the whole house clean!"
"Gerald," she wrote to another, "I am too old to travel. I stay at home most of the time, so I rarely use the Mercedes."
"Dearest Donald," she wrote to her third son, "You have the good sense to know what your mother likes. The chicken was delicious!"