My beloved mother

My name is Inez, the 2nd daughter of my parents. My father is French, my mother is Indonesian.

From birth and adolescence, my sister Leony and I lived in Paris, France. Because my father was called by God,

my mother brought me to Indonesia. Leony remained in Paris, living with her papa's younger sister.

Mama and I rented a house in the Tomang area of West Jakarta.

My mom started a freight forwarding business. At that time, she collaborated with one of the marketplace platforms.

The platform then grew rapidly, automatically my mom's business became big.

She had more than fifty branches throughout Indonesia.

Then the house that we rented, She bought and some neighbors, She bought their houses too.

So now our house is spacious, not only for the head office, but also for the delivery vehicle pool.

Mama is quite successful in my opinion. She targeted the right business at the right time.

By the end of college, I had brought a Pajero car, my birthday present from my mother.

Leony, who had finished her graduation in Paris, flew straight to Indonesia.

Leony became my mom's sales and marketing director.

Leony spent 2 years in Indonesia, then married her longtime boyfriend and stayed in Indonesia.

Peter, Leony's husband, was appointed by mom as the financial director.

After I graduated, I was appointed by my mom as the distribution director.

She was the founding and managing director, overseeing her son and daughter-in-law.

After a year of working in my mom's business, I got married to Ody. We dated for only a year and then got married.

Ody was appointed by my mother as director of human resources and asset maintenance.

The company grew.

Mama led us all with the gentleness of a mother's heart and her affection for her children including her sons-in-law.

She could nurture, she could unite us all. If there was friction, Mama helped resolve it wisely.

Mama never took sides with her children. Mama is always balanced and all are considered her children.

What is wrong in mama's eyes is wrong. In essence, mama is a protector with extraordinary love.

Mama was detected to have malignant cancer, stage 4. Mama neglected her health, endured the pain and the result was delay.

She tried to seek treatment all the way to France. But all only extended mama's life a little.

Mama breathed out right surrounded by all her children and sons-in-law.

We all lost a mama who was tough, smart, had extraordinary vision. But behind that, we really lost mama's affection and love.

She hasn't had the chance to see her grandchildren, She hasn't fully enjoyed her efforts from the bottom.

Mama's age was too young in my opinion when she was called by God, she was 66 years old. mama left precious milestones to her children.

Before mama breathed her last, mama said that mama's last position in the company should not be replaced,

it's better to be empty. That was the last message that was conveyed to everyone.

But reality changed, Leony, my sister, after my mother's departure, took her place.

Friction after friction began to occur. In the beginning, my husband had friction with my sister,

and we mediated within the family. At the beginning everything was over and harmonious again. But for some reason,

it started again and ended with my husband resigning.

Then, Leony's husband also had friction with his own wife. We also mediated.

But it failed and ended with Peter leaving the company and divorcing my sister on the grounds that he had no children.

Peter returned to France.

My sister and I managed my mother's legacy business. At home I also had a lot of friction with Ody,

because he didn't like my sister. Ody's stove was always lit for me to dislike Leony too.

I got pregnant. Ody asked me to stop working for the company.

I finally complied with Ody's request.

Leony was getting harder and harder to control alone. I felt sorry for her. The business was actually mine from mom.

If it was destroyed, I would feel sorry for her too. I went back to help Leony maintain the company.

My husband divorced me because of my decision.

Leony is like a mom, she loves me as her sister. Back in my pregnant position, Leony hugged me tightly and burst into tears.

She realized her mistake, breaking mama's request. Because I knew that if my position was replaced by anyone,

there would be friction, because everyone was originally in the same position.

Even Peter at that time didn't like his wife being his superior.

As a man, it was taboo for him to be led by his wife in a business.

After Ody divorced me when I was heavily pregnant. Leony asked me to meet and talk about everything.

At the end of the moving conversation, an agreement was made, Leony returned to her original position.

We left the position of managing director vacant, assuming mama was still there.

The company was running well again.

Not long after, Leony married a widower, Hendra Setiawan, a marketing director in the pharmaceutical industry.

The company grew rapidly after Leony succeeded in cooperating with a marketplace partner from China that had just entered Indonesia.

The platform developed very rapidly. So that our company also soared. At that time we had one hundred and three outlets.

I gave birth and got the news that Leony was pregnant. Leony's husband stepped in to replace his wife.

Because Leony was very pregnant, very sick. A year after I gave birth to my daughter Debby, I married a childless widower,

called Casper, because my husband was well known in the public.

Three months before I got married, Leony gave birth to a boy, James was his name.

After Leony was strong, she returned to the position held by her husband. Because Leony's husband is wise and smart.

We agreed that he would replace mom as managing director. Our company has been growing until now.

I am grateful, Leony and I, with tears in our eyes, thanked mom on her birthday. We still miss mom's affection,

her love for us that was so sincere and noble. I hugged Leony, tears of emotion mixed with happiness from brother and sister.

One fell down.