My mum was very stern.
\nShe used to pinch us under the table when we told on her (to my grandma, her mum).
\nShe used to scold us (for our carelessness) when we informed her we’d hurt ourselves, before treating our injuries.
\nShe used to cane us, when we were younger, and got naughty.<\/p>\n
My mum was a good cook.
\nShe baked, and cooked, and could whip up a feast for my father’s big entertainment parties.
\nShe made all kinds of Chinese new year cookies, roasted her own roast pork and char siu.
\nShe made all the dishes my dad still misses after all these years.<\/p>\n
My mum was a very nice person.
\nShe did a lot of charity sales.
\nShe helped out a lot in church.<\/p>\n
My mum was a good daughter.
\nShe spent twice a week with my grandparents, bringing them for movies, meals and visiting friends.
\nShe spent hours on the phone with my grandma, talking about anything under the sun.
\nShe brought them for holidays.<\/p>\n
My mum loved kids.
\nShe was a kindergarten teacher, and a principal, without pay.
\nShe baby sat for friends’ kids, for free.<\/p>\n
My mum was an animal lover.
\nShe cared for all the strays I brought home.
\nShe let the kittens sleep on her belly while she watched TV.<\/p>\n
My mum and my dad made a loving couple.
\nThey fought, quarreled, but they had their arms around each other when they went shopping.
\nMy dad never remarried because he still misses my mum.<\/p>\n
My mum was how my mum should be.
\nShe gave me advice on my relationships, left me alone to decide for things.
\nShe nursed my heart breaks with me, brought me to Australia to ‘forget about things’.
\nShe chauffeured me to work.
\nShe bought me Taiwanese children story books, Japanese pop cassettes, Esprit clothes when she went traveling with my dad, she knew I love them.<\/p>\n
My mum was a considerate mum and daughter.
\nShe had cancer of the kidney, had a surgery to remove one of her kidneys, went for chemotherapy.
\nShe kept her situation from us, her four children and her parents, for seven years,
\nShe only had my father informed.<\/p>\n
My mum was a strong believer of Christ.
\nShe went to church every morning.
\nShe said the rosary upon waking and before sleeping.
\nShe abstained from meat (except sea food) every Friday.
\nShe went for pilgrimage tours.
\nShe said her faith helped her endure her cancer, she said she felt no pain in all her treatments.<\/p>\n
My mum left early.
\nShe had a relapse and we were finally informed of her illness, and within 3 days, she passed on, without us having time to react.
\nShe had not seen any of her grandchildren. None of her grandchildren has experienced her love.<\/p>\n
My grandma was immensely sad.
\nShe refused to come to our home, the memory of my mum was too hard to bear.
\nShe refused to speak to my dad, blaming him for not telling her any earlier.
\nShe refused to stay healthy; she bathed in sadness; she joined my mum 3 years later; fulfilling my mum’s wishes, she was baptised before she left the world.<\/p>\n
After being a mum myself, I realised what both these women had done for us, caring for us, loving us. It’s a shame I only knew this so much later. And I have not reciprocated the love the way I should. It’s a loss for Zara, as she cannot experience the love of a maternal grandma, the way I did.<\/p>\n
Remembering them on Mother’s Day, and my mum’s upcoming 13th year death anniversary.<\/p>\n