This story begins when I was a child: I was born poor.
Often we hadn't enough to eat. Whenever we had some
food, Mother often gave me her portion of rice. While
she was transferring her rice into my bowl, she would
say 'Eat this rice, son! I'm not hungry.'
This was Mother's First Lie.
As I grew, Mother gave up her spare time to fish in a
river near our house; she hoped that from the fish she
caught, she could give me a little bit more nutritious
food for my growth. Once she had caught just two fish,
she would make fish soup. While I was eating the soup,
mother would sit beside me and eat the what was still
left on the bone of the fish I had eaten, My heart was
touched when I saw it. Once I gave the other fish to
her on my chopstick but she immediately refused it and
said, 'Eat this fish, son! I don't really like fish.'
This was Mother's Second Lie.
Then, in order to fund my education, Mother went to a
Match Factory to bring home some used matchboxes which
she filled with fresh matchsticks. This helped her get
some money to cover our needs. One wintry night I
awoke to find Mother filling the matchboxes by
candlelight. So I said, 'Mother, go to sleep; it's
late: you can continue working tomorrow morning.'
Mother smiled and said 'Go to sleep, son! I'm not
tired.'
This was Mother's Third Lie
When I had to sit my Final Examination, Mother
accompanied me. After dawn, Mother waited for me for
hours in the heat of the sun. When the bell rang, I
ran to meet her.. Mother embraced me and poured me a
glass of tea that she had prepared in a thermos. The
tea was not as strong as my Mother's love, Seeing
Mother covered with perspiration, I at once gave her
my glass and asked her to drink too. Mother said
'Drink, son! I'm not thirsty!'.
This was Mother's Fourth Lie.
After Father's death, Mother had to play the role of a
single parent. She held on to her former job; she had
to fund our needs alone. Our family's life was more
complicated. We suffered from starvation. Seeing our
family's condition worsening, my kind Uncle who lived
near my house came to help us solve our problems big
and small.
Our other neighbors saw that we were poverty stricken
so they often advised my mother to marry again. But
Mother refused to remarry saying 'I don't need love.'
This was Mother's Fifth Lie.
After I had finished my studies and gotten a job, it
was time for my old Mother to retire but she carried
on going to the market every morning just to sell a
few vegetables. I kept sending her money but she was
steadfast and even sent the money back to me. She
said, 'I have enough money.'
That was Mother's Sixth Lie.
I continued my part-time studies for my Master's
Degree. Funded by the American Corporation for which
I worked, I succeeded in my studies. With a big jump
in my salary, I decided to bring Mother to enjoy life
in America but Mother didn't want to bother her son;
she said to me 'I'm not used to to high living.'
That was Mother's Seventh Lie
In her dotage, Mother was attacked by cancer and had
to be hospitalized. Now living far across the ocean, I
went home to visit Mother who was bedridden after an
operation. Mother tried to smile but I was heartbroken
because she was so thin and feeble but Mother said,
'Don't cry, son! I'm not in pain.'
That was Mother's Eighth Lie.
Telling me this, her eighth lie, she died.
YES, MOTHER WAS AN ANGEL!
M - O - T - H - E - R
'M' is for the Million things she gave me
'O' means Only that she's growing old
'T' is for the Tears she shed to save me
'H' is for her Heart of gold
'E' is for her Eyes with love-light shining in them
'R' means Right, and right she'll always be
'MOTHER' a word that means the world to me.
For those of you who are lucky to be still blessed
with your Mom's presence on Earth, this story is
beautiful. For those who aren't so blessed, this is
even more beautiful.
