Well, son, i’ll tell you:
life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
it’s had tacks in it,
and splinters,
and boards torn up,
and places with no carpet on the floor—
bare.
but all the time
i’se been a-climbin’ on,
and reachin’ landin’s,
and turnin’ corners,
and sometimes goin’ in the dark
where there ain’t been no light.
so boy, don’t you turn back.
don’t you set down on the steps
’cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
don’t you fall now—
for i’se still goin’, honey,
i’se still climbin’,
and life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

answer the following question related to the passage titled "mother to son": what is the 'crystal stair' symbolic of within the poem?

a. an easy, smooth, beautiful life

b. a see-through life

c. a delicate, breakable life

d. a dirty, dingy life