A little girl invited her mother to attend her elementary school's 
first teacher-parent conference.
To the little girl's dismay,
she said she would go. 
This would be the first time that her classmates 
and teacher met her mother
and she was embarrassed by her .appearance.

Although she was a beautiful woman, 
there was a severe scar that covered nearly the entire right side of her face. 
The girl never wanted to talk about why or how she got the scar. 
At the conference, the people were impressed by the kindness and natural beauty
of her mother despite the scar, 
but the little girl was still embarrassed and hid herself from everyone.

She did, however, get within earshot of a conversation 
between her mother and her teacher,
and heard them speaking. 
"How did you get the scar on your face?" the teacher asked. 
The mother replied, "When my daughter was a baby, 
she was in a room that caught on fire. 
Everyone was too afraid to go in because the fire was out of control,
so I went in.

As I was running toward his crib, 
I saw a beam coming down and I placed myself over her trying to shield her. 
I was knocked unconscious but fortunately,
a fireman came in and saved both of us." 
She touched the burned side of her face.
"This scar will be permanent, but to this day, 
I have never regretted doing what I did."

At this point, the little girl came out running towards her mother with tears in her eyes.
She hugged her and felt an overwhelming sense of the sacrifice 
that her mother had made for her. 
She held her hand tightly for the rest of the day.

Author Unknown