I miss my Mama tonight

I miss my mom tonight. We have been apart since I was 13 and I guess there is nothing that can recover the lost years of being apart. I recall standing at the top of the hill a road above the road from our home looking downwards; when I saw her walking out of the road and northward to the bus stand- (it was quite a distance)- suddenly I felt we were going to be parted. I started weeping. I was 13. Well, she had been pretty much our world -- for me and my brother. A week later, I received a call from Dad saying that I had been given an offer to a government boarding school, and I was to take it. Dad was ecstatic. I was glum. The feeling was confirmed. Mom and I were to be parted.

I love my mom. She's wise, and doesn't jump when situations happened. When I had a belief crisis at the age of 9 and asked her whether I could convert, she calmly told me, Why don't you make that decision when you are 21? Then she allowed me to go to neighbours' homes to "experience" and study that particular belief.

When I liked someone at 15, She noticed but kept quiet. When he disappeared much later (much to her relief because he wasn't exactly a good influence), she only told me much later that she knew I was attracted to him. By that time, I had also realised he was not such a good candidate for attraction after all... I don't want to be spending my time hanging around snooker centres looking for him, no matter how good looking he was.

When I attended a short term training and became close friends with another guy, she was secretly quite concerned. But never breathed a word. I only found out when my friend whom she was working for, told me of her concern. She assured her that I only liked the guy because of his great character.

During college years, one day a senior I was rather close to (via college work) sent me home while she was around. More than a year later after graduation, one day while reading the newspapers at home, she suddenly quipped, "Choose someone who is mature in the heart, not mature in the face." Her keen eyes had not missed a thing! whoosh.

Later on, when I told her I had met someone finally, she was thrown off guard. She had never met this new person before. But once she met him, well, her heart was settled. He met her requirement of being, ehem, mature in the heart, not in the face. heheheheh. She now claims he's her best son in law (well, he's her only one), and doted on him when she was around for my confinement after birth. You should see the way she waited till he came home from work to steam fish for him. *shakes head in wonder*

Looking back, I wonder if I would have the ability to respond as she did in the circumstances I posed to her. Even allowing her own daughter to go and study another religion and explore other beliefs. Watching from a near distance but not intruding... hmmmm... Looking back, I guess she knew her daughter's temperament and strong independence. Thank God for my mom. And thank God for all our moms. Happy Mother's Day. I love you, Ma :)