Mother's Day

My Day.  Our agenda was to go see a Geranium Show in Sacramento but Tim and I seemed to have missed it.  Fortunately, we were close to the McKinley Park Rose Garden.  There we strolled, looked, and smelled the roses.  I was surprised to see how many people were there taking pictures on that misty day.  There were benches there where we sat for a little while just to admire the flowers.  Surprisingly, we noticed a couple of people who were stealing flowers and branches of plants from the park.  Knowing that it was mother's day, I assumed that the flowers were for some special mother.  How nice to have a park that can serve as a source of blessings to people! :)

Tim and I drove back home and stopped by the Town Center to get something sweet - Cold Stone ice cream.  Only when we got there that I was reminded that there was this big event going on there.  We were in a long line but they were fast.  So we walked through the different tents/kiosks as we ate and then we sat at the parking lot to enjoy our treats to the fullest.  When we got home I was in the mood for gardening. 

What is mother's day anyway?  Mothers do give up a lot in order to love to their children.  From conception to the very end, mothers make sacrifices to love.  Love is the motivation for the things that they do for their children.  So mother's day should be a celebration of that commitment to love.  It is not a time to give her a break (vacation) from her usual routine.  It is not the time when children should pay her back (salary) by making her breakfast.  Back in the village where I grew up, old and wise people say that "even if you cut yourself into pieces and use the palm of your hand as a plate to feed your your mother, you still won't be able to pay her back for all the sacrifices she did for you."    This is very graphic but the idea is clear - it is impossible to pay her back physically.  They say this to children who act arrogantly towards their parents.  Children are supposed to bear the "utang na loob" which literally means "debt that is inside".   This is not a material, monetary or service debt.  It is an imbedded switch in the deepest core of your heart that says, "I will delight my mother".   The bible says, "Honor your father and your mother."    Honor your mother (and father) with love.  Mother's Day should be a day to exaggerate that which should already be a way of life. 

I had a mother who loved me...and I had a mother whom I loved.