𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐀

𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. For years, she toiled hard in public markets selling fish to finance my education. She did not mind the coldness of the ice buckets just to earn a living to feed us and send us to school. She woke up early in the morning to make a livelihood and went home every night exhausted. Now that I am a professional, I want her to stay home, as I have always dreamed. A few years ago, I made it happen. She retired from selling fish in the market, even though she refused many times. We told her it was our time to take care of her. But of course, mothers do not rest. They do not want to stop taking care of us. Now that she is staying home, she always ensures that I have the best home-cooked meals every day, my school uniforms well-pressed, my room organized, and our humble abode a haven to come home to after a long tiring day at work. Imagine going home from work, entering your room, and finding it all cleaned up with fresh bed sheets, pillowcases, and clothes arranged. To me, these are not small things. I appreciate my mother for doing all these things regardless of my age and status in life. These are among the many reasons I work very hard - to see my mother every day at home, tending to her plants, and caring for us, which she loves the most. I know other professionals share the same story with me. Our moms still take care of us every day. And when we get home, we always first look for our mothers. As we reach the doorstep, we always ask, “Asa si Mama?” (Where is Mama?) True enough, I cannot live without my mother. She is my backbone in everything that I do. Her support helps me excel in what I do best. Her wisdom keeps me grounded, and every time I vent some of my frustrations at work or with anyone, she responds with humble words that calm and soothe my emotions. If I get sick, I want my mother to be around. I always feel safe in her presence. When I recuperated for two years from a vehicular accident, my mother did not leave me despite all the financial and physical struggles. She even took out a loan from the bank using my father’s pension to keep up with paying bills. It is unfathomable how their way of caring for us assures us that everything will be fine. One reason that motivates me to pursue my dreams is for my mother to experience all the best things in the world. She deserves the world. So, if you appreciate me for being good at what I do personally and professionally, please know that I am well taken care of by a great, selfless mother. 𝙱𝚢 𝚁𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗 𝙻𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚗 𝙾𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚘 𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙸𝙸𝙸, 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚊 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚂𝙷𝚂 𝚂𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚕 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 🅴🅽🅳   𝘕𝘉. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘌𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘢’𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵 (𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘴) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝗽𝗮𝘂_𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗮@𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗱.𝗴𝗼𝘃.𝗽𝗵