Shirley Caesar - No Charge lyrics

My sister's little boy came in the kitchen one evening While she was fixing supper And he handed her a piece paper he had been writing on And after wiping her hands on an apron She took the letter in her hands and read it And this is what it said: For mowing the yard, five dollars And for making up my own bed this week, one dollar For going to the store, fifty cents And playing with little brother while you went shopping, twenty five cents Taking out the trash, one dollar And for getting a good report card, five dollars And for raking the yard, two dollars Total owed, fourteen seventy five Well she looked at him standing there expecting And a thousand memories began to flash through her mind So she picked up the pen and she turned the letter over And this is what she wrote to that little boy: For the 9 months I carried you growing inside of me, no charge For the nights I sat up with you doctored you and prayed for you, no charge For the time and tears and the costs through the years, there is no charge When you add it all, up the real cost of my love is no charge For the nights filled with dread and the worries ahead, no charge For the advice and the knowledge and the costs of your college, no charge For the toys, food, and clothes and for wiping your nose, there's no charge my son When you add it all the real cost of my love is no charge After that Mom finished talking to that little boy He looked up at her with grand big ol' tears in his eyes And he said, Mama, I sure do love you And then he reached out and he got the letter and he turned it over And he wrote in grand big words: Paid in full When you add it all the real cost of my love is no charge