Mama! Mama! What really have you done?

My mother and her sister became aware of poverty early on their younger years. Life became very hard for them. I remember that she always cried talking about those experience she had in her younger days. Growing up, I would often hear people say "I can't believe you guys turned out the way you did, given what your mother went through" and that made me very proud of my mother because she managed to raise us to be a great person.

After all her sacrifices for us, there were times when she almost gave up on life, only because of us. She had to work so hard, I felt like I was the reason for all her hardships and suffering. We were dirt poor and we didn't have much. Our house was falling apart and we struggled from day to day. Sometimes the water would run out and we wouldn’t have any drinking water or anything to wash ourselves with.

I can remember my mother spending hours outside under the scorching sun collecting firewood and hauling her bucket of water home. But my mom’s smile never wavered, and she made sure that we had everything we needed. At first, I was very young but as I grew older I realized how much work she had to do just so that we could have one meal a day.

I also remember when I was in high school, one time I came home from school, there was no food for us to eat. At that time I felt sad for my mom, but I told myself it will be ok. Then she slowly discussed with us that if we wanted to go to college, we had to work our way through school. We all agreed that we had no choice but to do so. We never complain about how difficult things were because we had each other’s back as a family.

She always treated us as her first priority in life. She is a very hardworking person and always believe that you can achieve more if you are willing to work hard for it. She never gives up even if the situation is so bad that it seems there is no hope left. Every time when we have problems, she will be there to provide us with solutions and help us solve those problems together. She divides her time constantly between family members and friends, showing sympathy towards all people in need of support or advice.

She taught us to be responsible, hardworking, and merciful. She always wants us to take education seriously. She always tries to save enough money to finance our studies but it was not always easy because we are 5 in the family. When we came back home with bad grades or sometimes even when we just got in a fight at school, we got punished. At that time, we thought our mother was harsh but now whenever I look back on those times I can see how much strength it took for her not to give up on us and keep pushing us to achieve more in life.

My mother always motivates us to be someone who can contribute positively on society as a whole. Every time when the money is short, she always comfort us and told us to just work harder because at the end of the day everything will be fine. She told us to never give up because it is not in our blood to lose hope in life. There is no such thing as impossible only if you try harder to get there where you want to be in life.

My mother was an ordinary woman. She was one of those people who had not live a life of their own choice but choose to help other have the life she never had. She was so ordinary, so plain and simple, and yet her love for us is beyond imaginable. She had been there for all of us the way she could at any moment. It is a selfless act toward her children who will never understand that even if we sold off all the assets, it would never be enough to repay what we owe her. We can never repay her, even if we sold all our assets in this life.

Our family doesn't have a lot of money, but my mother always teaches us to work hard for our future. My mother break her back every day just so she can make us whole. She is the only woman who I will bow my head down to her. My mama is not an angel, but she is way better than most human beings in this world. She is my angel, my hero and my greatest love. I don’t have time to write more since she makes this planet round every day.

Mama! You may not be perfect but you are the most important person to me! You’re the best in the whole universe!

Lead image edited in canva

© 2022 captainghost. All rights reserved.