My mother

Last night, I was working on my letter (for the To My Younger Self event....you should be too? :) And I was writing a section on my mother and how I should have loved her more when I was younger, of course I did but there were times I gave her lots of stress and disrespect - I was very rebellious. As I finished writing this...I thought to myself, "Geez, Jojo..it's going to be Mother's Day and you're only dedicating couple of sentences to your MOTHER?" No...she deserves a whole post, I thought. So here it is, first off let me include a picture of my mother and me, when I was a baby:
My mother's a beautiful woman, always has been....me, eh! as you can clearly see. If you ask anyone about my mom's character...they will tell you that she spent her whole life dedicating all of herself to her family...especially her children. From the generation she came from, and from our Asian culture, the women are the main nurturers. She came from a seven sibling family and when their parents died when she was a teenager, she nurtured all of her younger siblings and then the three of us when we were born.

My mother is a kind woman who cries very easily...she's ambitious, intelligent, and loving. She has her sharp-tongued moments..lol and her way of disciplining me was for me to learn from my own mistakes. She gently guided me and not only mothered, but befriended me in the closest way possible. Geez...she is the most patient person I've ever known, something which I didn't inherit, sadly, but becoming a mother myself has been a crash-course through patience itself.

When I see the wrinkles on her face and her hair graying...she forgets and complains about her back hurting...when I outgrew and she became shorter...it saddens me and I can't imagine my life without her in it. There were my stupid moments when I fought her over everything, when I would yell, kicking and screaming...I so regret. Mothers really DO want the best for you and every "nagging" comment is for your own good. She tells me that her granddaughter (LC) will get her revenge finally now that I'm in the same position. LOL!

My parents are separated now, and when both my brothers left to go back to our country, my mother and I only had each other in the vast land of America. Those were such difficult times, but we lived through it and proved that women are born with inherent perseverance. She is silent, strong, and brave...all things I hope to learn. I love you, mommy!

There is one other person I would like to mention in this post. And this is another mother I've gained in my life. My mother-in-law. She may not have given birth to me, but she's become my second mother nonetheless. She called me everyday when I was pregnant, and she couldn't love my little girl any less than me. She gave birth to my wonderful husband (though I swear to GOD there are moments when I wanna...you know?), she taught him to respect women, to be a good father, and THANK GOD, be helpful around the house. Thanks, mom!

And to the all the mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!