Tribute to My Mother

Julia Ward Howe proposed the idea of Mother’s Day for Peace over a century ago. Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870 was a call for disarmament and for women to come together to seek diplomatic ways to settle disagreements amongst nations. Nowadays, it is probably a time to settle disagreements between mothers and their children, or even within family members. Who has not kissed and made up in time for Mother' Day?

The above picture is not of me. I am told that among the five of us, I am the one who looks the most like her. There is a saying that if a man wants to know what his wife looks like when they grow old, take a look at her mother. I would also like to think that I inherited her innate goodness and tolerance but I am a bit too much like my father.

To my mother, here are a few words which are not mine but they are apt, and come from the heart.
I know I haven't been an easy child, but love for you lies underneath my whims;
There is no way I could be tame or mild, I need sometimes to shout and wave my limbs.
You're the wall I need to test my height, the countervailing force to test my strength,
The chain I hammer at with all my might, even though you have increased its length.
But love against the odds is stronger still, I need your fierce, proud love, and always will.

For all that you have given me, I can return but love. Happy Mother's Day.