Mother's Day

As I get to have somewhat of a quiet moment the day after, I'm reflecting on all the happiness that surrounded me on a day set aside for us mom's. But instead of gushing over how cute my kids are, or how darling Joe is (who made breakfast, fed the kids, did the dishes at dinner)... I want to acknowledge my own mom.

In typical Chinese fashion, we don't talk about our emotions with each other. We don't sit down, have talks over coffee, call each other up to just 'see how you're doing', or say 'I love you'. Even after all that our family has been through, we just don't do that stuff. But I do love my mom, and am saying it publicly on this blog - but you will not see me say it to her face with a hug either.

My mom really is an amazing woman. I don't give her enough credit, nor do I think I can ever give her enough acknowledgement for being a mom. You see, she has been a single mom for 24 years. My dad passed away suddenly in a car accident when I was 5 (my sisters were 11 and 14). She raised 3 young girls, and had to continue her job as a mom despite the hurdles that life threw at her. We didn't grow up with a normal life, but I certainly didn't feel like I missed out on anything. I had more opportunities and freedom as a child, tween, teenager... and for a mom who lost everything to still 'let go' of your daughters instead of overprotecting them astounds me.

I've learned from my mom, that you can only do what you can as a parent to protect your children. That is all we want to do for our kids - to protect them. It's easy when they're babies - you can protect them by physically holding them, taking them away from dangers, put a blanket on them when they're cold, give them medicine when they're sick. But as they grow, it gets harder to protect - they're going to fall (so we give them helmets). They're going to walk into corners (thank goodness for corner protectors). We start padding the whole house... but then they're able to get out of the house, and that is when things get scary. There are the things we can teach them (strangers, drugs, sex), but as they get older, the pains and hurts of the world get bigger.

But my mom made the conscious decision to just Trust. Trust in the Lord, and to trust her own kids (I'd say it's about 90% God though). Giving us responsibility from a young age, to learn things on our own gave us the ability to gain confidence. We aren't protected from the world, but we're not scared of it because of her. She had to let us go, but now her returns are 3 happily married daughters, 5 grand kids, (and counting!), and a fulfilling life filled with good friends and family. It wasn't an easy road for her, but boy she sure came out on top, and I am constantly amazed by my mom.