My Mama

When I was younger, I had a lot of questions: why does my mother do a lot of things that are most of the time not agreeable to me; why she doesn't get tired of looking after us (me, Paul,Liezl and Mark) even after spending the whole day working as a high school PE teacher then; what gives her so much strength - physically and emotionally; or when is she going to stop being as nosy or controlling.

When I first became a mom at 30, the answers came naturally. Now, I get it.

Being a mom doesn't stop when your kids have kids of their own. I'm at the first phase of my mommy journey and my mom is almost at the end of it. She is still our light, our reminder, our link, our energizer bunny, our shock-absorber, our atm, our market, our yaya, our all-around-all year-long-24/7 friend. At 60, she is still showing no signs of ever giving up her mommy duties.

She is our light. When I'm at lost from the simplest "where to buy mundane things" or the more serious "enlightening of the mind and heart," it is always her that I can and will always first run to.

Our reminder. Be it the birthday of this tito or the deadline of this thing, she can be like an alarm clock or the calendar who will make sure that we never miss out on anything.

Our link to all those relatives near or far, literally or figuratively. Our link to some of the old tricks that never fail like in cooking "sinanta," a Tuguegarao-version of noodles with orange soup or to all those old customs that still works even in this modern times.

Our energizer bunny who loves to travel with her athletes or teachers, she doesn't mind getting tired for her apos, her work and the chosen(and lucky) few.

Needless to say, in everything that she was and everything that she still is, my Mama is everything that a daughter can ask for. One thing I know, like her I will never get tired of being a Nanay. She showed me that motherhood has no boundaries, no limit, no time. My Mama taught me well and for that I am most grateful.

Thank you, Mama. We love you. Always and Forever.