Choices

When people ask me to define love, I say, "Love is like handing someone a gun, having them point it at your heart, and trusting them to never pull the trigger." (Sponge Bob)

When they ask me why I laugh at my mistakes and even write them with pride in my blogs, I say, "I'm not crazy. I just don't give a damn!" (Daffy Duck)

When one time I was conducting a group activity, a student asked what road sign I love the most, I said, "I like dead end signs. I think they're kind. They at least have the decency to let you know you're going nowhere…" (Bugs Bunny)

And when for the nth time a friend would ask me what do I get from writing, I'm not even sure if there are good old souls out there visiting my site, I just smile and say, "Kung gusto mong maging manunulat, eh di magsulat ka. Simple." (Bob Ong)

And last night when Eva said she wants to quit from her work because nobody believes in her, her boss got mad at her, she doesn't even have friends at her agency, and she's crying like hell, I said, "Either you stay to prove your worth or you quit and just show them you're a loser, you have to strive for your happiness." (MY original)

My CHOICES: I remained believing in love. I continued spicing up my mistakes and rewriting my life, accepting failure but keep on dreaming until words would fade into thin air.

Mar 6, 2008

Eight Lies of A Mother

Mothers always lie..........



This story begins when I was a child:


I was born poor. Often we hadn't enough to eat. Whenever we had some food, Mother often gave me her portion of rice. While she was transferring her rice into my bowl, she would say, "Eat this rice, son! I'm not hungry."


This was Mother's First Lie.


As I grew, Mother gave up her spare time to fish in a river near our house; she hoped that from the fish she caught, she could gave me a little bit more nutritious food for my growth. Once she had caught just two fishes, she would make fish soup. While I was eating the soup, Mother would sit beside me and eat what was still left on the bone of the fish I had eaten. My heart was touched when I saw it. Once I gave the other fish to her on my chopstick but she immediately refused it and said, "Eat this fish, son! I don'treally like fish."


This was Mother's Second Lie.


Then, in order to fund my education, Mother went to a Match Factory to bring home some used matchboxes which she filled with fresh matchsticks.This helped her get some money to cover our needs. One wintry night I awoke to find Mother filling the matchboxes by candlelight. So I said,"Mother, go to sleep; it's late. You can continue working tomorrow morning. "Mother smiled and said, "Go to sleep, son! I'm not tired."


This was Mother'sThird Lie.


When I had to sit my Final Examination, Mother accompanied me. Afterdawn, Mother waited for me for hours in the heat of the sun. When the bell rang, I ran to meet her. Mother embraced me and poured me a glass of tea that she had prepared in a thermos. The tea was not as strong as my Mother's love. Seeing Mother covered with perspiration, I at once gave her my glass and asked her to drink too. Mother said "Drink, son! I'm not thirsty!"


This was Mother's Fourth Lie.


After Father's death, Mother had to play the role of a single parent. She held on to her former job; she had to fund our needs alone. Our family's life was more complicated. We suffered from starvation. Seeing our family's condition worsening, my kind Uncle who lived near my house came to help us solve our problems big and small. Our other neighbors saw that we were poverty stricken so they often advised my mother to marry again. But Mother refused to remarry saying "I don't need love."


This was Mother's Fifth Lie.


After I had finished my studies and gotten a job, it was time for my old Mother to retire but she carried on going to the market every morning just to sell a few vegetables. I kept sending her money but she was steadfast and even sent the money back to me. She said, "I have enough money."


That was Mother's Sixth Lie.


I continued my part-time studies for my Master's Degree. Funded by the American Corporation for which I worked. I succeeded in my studies. With a big jump in my salary, I decided to bring Mother to enjoy life in America but Mother didn't want to bother her son; she said to me "I'm not used to high living."


That was Mother's Seventh Lie.


In her old age, Mother was attacked by cancer and had to be hospitalized. Now living far across the ocean, I went home to visit Mother who was bed ridden after an operation. Mother tried to smile but I was heart broken because she was so thin and feeble but Mother said, "Don't cry, son! I'm not in pain."


That was Mother's Eighth Lie.


Telling me her eighth lie, she died.


YES, MOTHER WAS AN ANGEL!


M - O - T - H - E - R


"M" is for the million things she gave me,

"O" means only that she's growing old,

"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,

"H" is for her heart of gold,

"E" is for her eyes with love-light shining in them,

"R" means right, and right she'll always be.


Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER" -- a word that means the world to me.


For those of you who are lucky to be still blessed with your Mom's presence on Earth, this story is beautiful. For those who aren't so blessed, this is even more beautiful.





And shall I say, painful; because this reminded me of my own Mother who was so selfless and died of Cancer, too almost four years ago.


To Maricel who forwarded me this short story, thank you. Words are not enough to express my gratitude of the gift of friendship.

3 comments:

SandyCarlson said...

It is good to remember the sacrifices of our mothers and to think on how they made it seem like nothing at all. Such is a mother's graciousness.

Happy BYB Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

This made me cry. Where do women learn to become mothers and to sacrifice all for their children. Is it in the genes, is it evolution.

Angels all around you.