A Mother

A mother like no other. She raised me on her own, with the help of her brother. Widowed at a young age with a young child, she broke barriers like no other I have seen in time. She learned how to drive when my father passed. With her own mother, she traveled overseas and moved to a new house close to her work. I was admitted to the school she taught at, so she could look after me. With no family in tow, she learned that staying a teacher would afford her the lifestyle to manage her child. To make ends meet, she taught after hour classes, tutored, and at times rented out our basement. She always had a smile on her face, and was always full of embrace. During this time, she made homemade meals each day, and night, including weekends to host dinner parties. She and her friends laboured in the kitchen to make vegetarian meals from scratch. It was a time when fast food, and next to no caterers for Indian cuisine existed.

The world is so different now, single mothers abound, more readily during this time, than when my mom raised me amongst conventional families with two parents and children. She was brave, took me along so I could socialize with kids my own age, and have a cohort of wonderful family friends that took me through and through the good and the bad.

The hardships of paying a mortgage with 23% interest, I never until I had my own bills to pay, and my own mortgage with a much lower rate. She did it all on her own, with a smile on her face, and with so much grace.

She bought me clothes that I desired, more than I needed, and a life she sacrificed for no one else but her daughter. That mother-daughter bond grew in my late teens until my 20s, but it was not till years later that I my knowledge of her life, coloured my world, and grew my appreciation of a woman who the world loved like no other. I met many years at a time, who teach me that her special positive shine is a bright light that beams unto this world.

Much gratitude goes out to this wonderful woman, who I am proud to call mom. What I now know, I wish I knew then, to bolster and support, and especially not take her for granted. She made life seem seamless, while she created a world of plenty for me and for others.

Years later, her former students speak of her with such joy, and reach out when she is in time. They speak of her cooking skills, her sweet and pleasant demeanor, a woman who never complained nor raised her voice.

As I’ve grown up, faced hardships of my own along with joyous moments, I am learning that to smile, and embrace life with joy, and abundance and love, the world will love you back with multitudes of it given back. She is a woman personified with such a saint-full grace.

I do think back how her life would be if my father had lived and not died. But she made peace with that years ago, as he was the love of her life. She was fulfilled in life, despite her sorrow, and said I filled up her heart and her life to carry forward.

As I write this, I cannot do justice with mere words, and thoughts. But I hope to pass on her own generosity of spirit, her love of life filled with positivity. I hope to build bridges between people, ideas and others throughout the world, and to bring peace, just like my mother.