When I was about ten years old, I watched an episode of Sesame Street that provided valuable lesson about who mothers are to their children. I would like to start this narrative with that story. A little girl got lost in the park and was crying hysterically. She caught the attention of a security officer nearby. The officer approached the child and tried to calm her. He asked her who she was with and the child said she was with her mother. They were crossing the street and there were so many people. She got confused and she thought she was following her mother but later found out that it was another woman.
The child continued to cry remembering her mother who would be worried by then. The officer asked the little girl to describe her mother. She said her mother is “the most wonderful woman in the whole world”. So the security officer looked for the beautiful women and presented them to her, but the child kept crying and insisted that her mother is “the most wonderful woman in the whole world”. After many attempts to find a beautiful lady fitting the child’s description, a plump, old woman who looked very worried rushed to the child and embraced her tight. The child was so happy and told the officer that the lady is her mother.
The child, relieved to be in her mother’s arms again, said to the officer, “This is my mother; she is the most wonderful woman in the whole world”. It was only then that the officer realized what the child meant. When a woman finds herself pregnant, she is transformed into a selfless individual, one who would put the child’s interest first above her own. It is like bearing a child fulfills her womanhood and in her child’s eyes, she literally is the most wonderful woman. Some women had to stop working because they need to personally take care of their babies.
Some had to change their lifestyle to favor the needs of the child. Some had to find a new place that is ideal for the child to grow up. Some women simply do not dream of anything else but to be good mothers to their children. To bring the child in one’s womb for nine months is a lot of sacrifice. To feed the baby from one’s breast until the baby is old enough is a lot more sacrifice. To care, protect and guide the baby until he grows and becomes an adult is a lifetime sacrifice for a mother. Mothers are heroes and the world is lucky to have them. So is my mother and she is my hero.
I may not be able to remember all the wonderful things my mother has done to me; it could make a long list and keep adding to it for as long as we both live. If ever I was not conscious of how she brought me in her womb for nine long enduring months, I could have certainly felt it and carried the feeling with me as I grew up. I was told that I was a perfectly healthy baby when I was born. My family especially my mother was so proud of me. She probably did not realize that if I was born good looking and very healthy, it was because she took care of her own health and successfully nurtured me in her own body.
I breathed in her breath, I ate what she ate and I lived in her; we were literally one during the most crucial time of my life. Aside from making it happen, she paved the way for me to grow in her healthily and safely. Like many perfectly healthy children, I was told that I was breastfed for two years. My memory does not help me enough to make me remember how it felt to be breastfed by my mother. But as I look at her now, I see a beautiful woman who was so blessed to provide the nutrition to keep her baby alive. Every drop of milk that I took from her was a result of all her efforts to keep herself clean and nutritious.
She must have eaten plenty of vegetables and avoided dirty food. She must have taken vitamins that would give her milk the nutrients that my body would need. She must have sacrificed being awake when I was hungry and set aside what she was doing whenever I cried and asked for food. I would have been so gratifying if I could remember how it was; being carried by my mother and making me feed from her breast. Simply knowing it makes me feel the intensity of her love, and I treasure this knowledge. I am happy to remember instances when my mother brought me to the grocery store and bought me some candy bars and chocolates.
I felt my eyes feast on the colors that I saw at the store. The feeling of security that I was with my mother added to the enjoyment I had. The feeling was like that most of the time. I felt that with my mother, I am safe. Nothing wrong can happen to me and she will give me everything. I did not have to ask, she knew when I needed something. When she bought me candy bars and chocolates in the grocery store made me very happy. But it was not just the candy bars and chocolates, or the trip at the grocery store that made me feel so good, it was because they were given by my mother.
Since my childhood, simply looking at my mother sent me good feelings. There was a time when I was running in a building, I don’t remember where it was, but it was a building with stairs and I was running recklessly. My mother was right behind me but I somehow made a wrong step and fell about three or four steps on the stairs going down. My immediate reaction was shock. I then felt a mixture of pain in my body and embarrassment because I attracted the attention of the other children playing there. It was instinct that I looked for my mother and looked at her eyes.
She was rushing towards me to give me the comfort that I needed. I remember crying and embracing my mother, asking her to caress me and tell me that everything was alright. It was also the comfort that assures me that it is not that embarrassing and nobody will laugh at me. That alone made me feel better and I knew that my mother was the best person who could do that for me. She was really my hero. I may be older now and stronger. I have learned many lessons in life as I gained experiences with all my mother’s love and guidance.
She may not be physically present, following me in all my activities, but she continues to be my guardian. Whatever I have become is owed much to my mother. For my mother, she may not have been conscious of the magnitude of the sacrifices she has made, just for me. Because every time she did something for me, her eyes would glow and I knew that she has always been so happy to do those things for me. I guess it is the magic of a mother’s love that makes a child whole. She is my hero and I will be grateful to her for being my mother for the rest of my life.