My wish for Mommy

Mommy just turned 44 this January 27. Although she insisted on not having any gift, I still treated her to a shopping spree hehe :) But seriously, if I could only be granted a wish for Mommy, I want that she would soon find her real prince charming.

Well, not that I'm in a hurry for her to have a lifetime partner. I just want her to be happy knowing she has someone to grow old with. Of course, I would someday settle down and I would want to have my own home to make. I will still and always be there for her but I know, deep in her heart, she still wants to walk down that promised aisle.

To say that my mom is brave would be an understatement. She's the strongest woman I have ever met, given the fact that she raised me on her own; definitely not a single centavo from my father.

My mom was 21 and my father was 15 when they had me. (Imagine!!) But I guess they were simply not meant to be and had to part. Mom went through the pregnancy alone, getting the food she craved for on her own; taking the pain of labor alone; and waking up to feed me milk in the middle of the night alone. She had her family to help her through but it still isn't the same if she had a husband.

Until I was five years old, I had no idea what my father looked like. But all those years I was aware Daddy was not that bad--because Mommy never said bad things about him. When I first met Daddy, I looked at Mommy and saw in her eyes not a single sign of anguish, pain, or regret. And I loved Mom more for that.

Three years later, Mom went abroad to work and had to endure thousands of miles being away from me on my birthdays and all those important days of my life. She also missed my first communion, she missed most of the declamation contests I participated in, and she practically missed a lot in my growing up years. She did all those just to never make me feel deprived of all my basic needs.

Mom went home for my gradeschool graduation but had to continue working in Manila while I stayed with my grandparents in Bicol throughout highschool. Come college, I stayed in UPLB while she worked in Bicol. And all those years, I know she worked very hard for the both of us; she worked hard to give me everything I have now.

While writing this, I see Mommy lying in her bed, deeply asleep. I wonder what she's dreaming about, if there was any. I can see she aged a bit, gained more pounds and started getting some wrinkles (she'd hate me for saying that). And after all these years, I still don't know how to thank her enough.

A gazillion thank you's will never be enough, I'm aware of that.

Hay. I love you Mommy. And I want the world to know that. :)