I've always known that - but the fact hit me hard again in recent times. I've been wanting to blog about it for some time now. This post has been sitting in the drafts folder for months. I wanted this post to be done really well.
When i was discharged from the hospital, i was kept indoors for almost a month. I was weak and still recovering from the effects of having gone thru a major surgery. In that time when i was 'locked-up' at home, i began to see again wat a wonderful woman my mom is.
She never seems to tire from doing work. She is disciplined. She has a routine and she sticks to it. She has a diet and she sticks to it too. She never procrastinate (how did she ever have a procrastinator son like me is still a great mystery) - i would just tell her about this button which came off a shirt and the button will be sewed on and the shirt hung back in my room in no time. Even once when i just mentioned about a tear in my shorts (and did not ask her to do anything about it), it was mended when i got home from work later!
She goes thru her daily chores without ever complaining! Not once have i heard her done so. When i was housebound, she would insist that i get as much rest as possible and would literally slave over me. I remember one incident when she was younger, she would sleep on the floor in my room when i was sick so that she could be close to me in case i needed anything in the middle of the nite.
Even when i was at the hospital, she would take time and trouble to get to the hospital to spend as much time as she could with me - despite of all the work she needed to do at home.
And to top it all off, i have been a terrible son in recent times. I was hardly around, i never chat with her, i tell her off, raise my voice to her and complain about her and about the things she would do. Yet, in an exhibit of true mother's love (and a wonderful illustration of God's unconditional love for us), she never stopped loving me.
I've never seen such love before. It was especially so clear some years ago when my father fell ill. She put up with everything - taking care of him, cleaning the mess that my father could not help causing, going with him for dialysis 3 times a week (sitting with him for hours at the hospital each time), taking care of the rest of us and the house chores at the same time, etc. I can't go into details - but to me, the love she showed to my father was one that was pure and unconditional. It was something i could not understand - and something which i pray that i'll be able to exhibit in my life.
Here is a small illustration of what she had to go thru at that time:-
The photo on the left was taken in December 2005. The one on the right was taken around slightly more than a year later - you can see how much she aged and how much weight she lost. Relatives were worried for her at that time. But it did not get any easier on her and eventually, my father's life on earth came to an end. i cannot imagine how hard it must have been for her to see my father slowly slip away and went home to be with the Lord.
Yet, she pulled thru. Today she is healthy and strong. She would rather walk back home from USJ 6 (we live in USJ 2) under the hot sun instead of asking me to fetch her cuz i was still recovering from my surgery. She works almost non-stop daily, cooking, cleaning, ironing, the works - even changing fluorescent light tubes high on the ceiling!!!!
All this is even more amazing when you consider that she is 70 years old!!!!
Yes, she is 70 years old today! Praise the Lord for her life, for her health and for the joy, love and peace she has today.
She is also such a wonderful person - recently she got so stressed up trying to help out my aunt who is deaf. When telemarketers call up, she would patiently listen to them even if we would be telling her to just say no and hang up. On Earth hour this year, she was rushing to finish her ironing so that she could turn off the lights on time.
I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful mom. I believe that today also, i am a much better person because of her. Thanks to her example, i believe i'm beginning to complain less and be ever willing to help. When tGiF was ill recently, i slept on the floor next to her bed just in case she needed anything in the middle of the nite - just like how my mom used to do for me. I have a live object lesson of what it means to truly love.
If you ask me today what my greatest fear is, i would tell you that it is the fear of seeing my mom getting even older and not being able to do what she can do now - and eventually to see her slip away. But there will be the comfort of knowing that she will be reunited with my father and be free from all tears and pain and suffering forever. And to wait for me in God's presence where we will one day be together again forever.
*One of her biggest hits and the memorable song from her - altho whenever i hear the song, i remember my former classmate Tina talking about how one of her uni mates adopted this song the song about his (yes, not her) life!
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