Inahan

HAPPY MOTHER's DAY TO ALL MOMS OUT THERE!

Today isn't a special day. This is a very special day. I don't know what else to say.

This is the article that I've submitted for kiwibox on March 19, 2005. In the actual article, I lied a bit just to make it timely for the celebration of the International Women's Month. But here is the real one. Just feel free to read on.

We recently celebrated International Women’s Day. It is just so timely to write this article since we are also honoring women in the entire world, and undeniably, our mothers are heroines in their own respective rights. I hope that this is a small way of paying homage to the sweat and blood that they have shed for us.

Most of us might have argued with our mother at least once when we were growing up. Blame it on generation gaps or anything else you want, but they've been there. Generally, the world that they lived in before we were born is quite a bit more conservative than the ones we have grown up in. I know I was one of those adolescents who, every single day, would get irritated, answer back and even disrespect my mother just because I felt that she crippled my wings in order for me to fly and breathe another kind of air. But fortunately, I’ve grown up to be a man, a mature one, who has realized that what she had done for me was for my betterment.

My mom performed a dual role for the family since I was three. My dad died without leaving us any centavo. His family even suggested to her that my two sisters and I be adopted by another family in order to lighten her burden. But instead of giving up, she opted to raise us alone, exerting everything she's got, more than five times before, and here she is, reaping the fruits of her labor — one a mother, the other a successful government employee and me, a licensed ECE.

Like my mother, yours have also put forth enormous efforts in order to give you life. I know I sound so preachy but they deserve appreciation from us. Let me enumerate some of them.

To start with, we cannot deny that they had carried us in their wombs for nine months, or a little less in some cases. Regardless of whether they pampered us, just didn’t care anything about their health at that time or even attempted to abort us, they still managed to carry it out and bring us into the world. At that point in time, they felt the agony of physical pain, risking their lives just to give it to us, and some even offered their entire lives just to make us exist.

Then it continued with the sleepless nights of singing countless lullabies while rocking us in their arms. We cannot remember those moments, but still their touch has lingered on us. They may have complained during those times when they had to wake up in the midst of their slumber just to feed us milk to quench our hunger, but they did it.

Our moms were our support when we were growing up. Most of us were taken to and from school by our mothers. They were the ones who would get nervous and would panic during school plays or competitions. I couldn’t forget how I cried on her shoulders when I didn’t qualify for the final round in a quiz bee when I was in first grade. She was the one who encouraged me to give my best next time, challenging me that I have the capacity to win and I felt she didn’t lose her confidence in me until I won in Grade IV. I know most of you have also experienced the same thing.

Then their emotional torture commenced when we became teenagers. They want us to do the right thing while we preferred to go the other way, experimenting other methods. They might have hurt us physically but they are the ones who felt more pain than we did. They gave us freedom, and when we fail, we still run to them for refuge.

Who constantly prays for us when we don’t have time for God? Who prepares our bags when we go camping or on a trip? Who cooks the best recipe for us and for our friends? Who defends us whenever our father reprimands us? It is our mom who has done all of these.

A number of my classmates in basic school were going astray. Some of them became pregnant before graduating. Others failed to graduate on time in college because they were hooked on drugs. Some just didn’t care about their lives. Constant communication with them tells me that they had finally survived those trials with the help of one person who understands and accepts them no matter what differences they possess and faults they have committed — their mom.

Miss Universe 1994, Sushmita Sen, aptly said, "To be born a woman is by itself a great gift of God, and we must all appreciate it. The origin of a child is a mother and it is the woman that teaches a man how to love care and share; that is the essence of a woman."

Evaluating my life, I’ve realized that I couldn’t have grown to be a better man without my mom’s guidance. I’ve realized more that her being so strict on me was for a good reason — to mould me into the best person that I could be while keeping me on track.

Gone are the days that I misunderstood my mom. This is the time for me to give back what she had shared to me. This time it’s sweeter and bigger. I’m lucky to have her.

As for the rest of you, it’s never too late to build a bridge with your mom. She is the reason why you exist. Honor her, defend her, and most of all, love her, for if you don't, who else will?