"It is the time of the year again, where your work is interrupted by a deluge of e-mails, reminding you of Mother’s Day.
I received my fair share, inducing me to sit up and think of mom, at least for 45 seconds. This Mother’s day, I’ll take her to Madam Kwan’s and buy her the latest Osim foot massager highly recommended by Nancy Sit or a nice, big bouquet of pink roses that she loves…
But, if your mom is like mine, you would be familiar with her gentle complains that it would be a waste of money to overspend on her. She’ll rather you save up the money for the rainy days. This, together with an urgent phone call banishes your noble thoughts into the background, never to be seen again.
Recently, over dinner a friend related a true story to me. The story goes like this -
Once there was a widowed mother in a village near Kuala Selangor, who brought up seven kids single handedly. Chicken meat would be a delicacy on important occasions. On such an event, when offered other parts of the chicken she would most definitely refuse and insist on only having the chicken neck. “I enjoy chicken neck the most,” she’ll smile.
This continued for many years and now, her kids are all grown up and well to do, working in the big city and having their own families.
During one New Year’s eve reunion in a big glittering hotel in the city, one of her sons offered her the chicken neck, as he thought it was her favourite part. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she said "Son, the neck was never my favourite part. There were so many of you to share a chicken when you were young, so I kept the best parts for you children."
The story touched me and it was easy to think of it as a representation of a mother's real sacrifice for her children. It personifies a typical Asian mother who would hold back her true feelings than express herself, making sure her children are free from worries. It also shows how much we take our mothers for granted.
I thought to myself, what if my mother isn't here tomorrow? I am lucky because my parents are around and even luckier that I have them to take care of my children when my husband and I are at work.
What have I done to let her know that I appreciate her? I felt uncomfortable thinking about mom being gone…
I’ll miss her loving kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. Or her gentle, knowing eyes that looks at me when I goof up and reflects, “I understand and I love you “without so much as uttering a word.
It was a good 'exercise' for me. Even for a mere 10 minutes. Thoughts of all of mom's sacrifices came gushing through. Words I hope to say to her more often, gifts I always wanted to surprise her with but never did, family recipes that she always wanted to teach me but I never had the time to learn.
How about you? Can you imagine how you'd feel if your mom was not around anymore?
Don’t you want to tell her how much you appreciated her, cared for her, and loved her, even if it meant giving up one Sunday afternoon to learn a recipe that she had so wanted to pass on to you?
That's exactly what I did. I asked her to teach me the nyonya recipe that she had always wanted to teach me. She radiated happiness and excitement as the experience was appreciation enough for her. Still, I really wish I could do more for her.
This Mother's Day, show your appreciation to Mum. We thought you may need this reminder since we all work in choking work environment that suffocates even the tiniest of loving thoughts for our love ones.
Surprise her. Even the smallest gestures like sending her a personal note with a posy of flowers will make her feel special and loved.
Happy Mother's Day!
Dorena Mah
Pods & Petals Giftlab
03-7960 7327
www.giftlab.com.my
Reply Email : dorena@malaysiaflower.com
