Dear Mom

You have carried me inside you for nine months and I wonder how you were able to get through day by day. I was such a heavy load and you still kept on caring for me.

You and I may not always be speaking on the same wavelengths but just the same, you are one of the most special people in my life.

To make our family live in comfort, you help my father to make both ends meet by working your butt off, too. Despite that, you still manage to run the household fairly and keep the family intact. How you do that remains a puzzle to me.

When me and my siblings were a little younger, you used to rant how 'magastos' we were and that we don't know the value of money earned from a hard day's toil. We even call you 'kuripot' and you would launch into a diatribe of where the money goes and how life can be so hard. But you are the person to lavish us with dresses and toys unexpectedly. You are the one who brings us to the mall and let us pick up the things we like.

You are our wonder mom who wakes up early in the morning just to serve breakfast and prepare a healthy 'baon' for us to school. From an exhausting day at work, you will go home and make sure that dinner is prepared when we arrive.

You always get so mad with me for going home so late at night that at times we argue because I always tell you that I am already a grown-up. You will get madder because my reasoning irritates you and we would end up hurting over the battle of words. But still, you will check me out in my room and ask me if I have filled in my stomach already. I may be hurt and mad, too but deep in this stubborn head of mine, you love me and that you always want me to be safe from the threats of this world.

When we argue and I start to reason out, you will ask me if UP teaches people how to be rude and obstinate. When your friends and colleagues voice out their high regard for me, you will boast that UP has developed me and I greatly enhanced myself in it. Like other moms, you are proud to say that I schooled in UP.

I love you for being just the way you are. Simple, thoughtful, sweet and with a big heart. It does not bother me a bit whenever you let out that never-ending, ticklish guffaw of yours everytime you watch something hilarious. I also even bawl with you (which is unknown to you) whenever we both watch 'Maalaala Mo Kaya.'

It still makes me shed tears everytime I remember how hard life is for you when you were a kid and growing up. An orphan at nine and with a life shifting to one relative to another, it still hurts me to know that you went through life's hardships alone. (Now, you are making me cry again). So, when you had me and my siblings, you always make sure that life will treat us alright. You never fail to show us how you value us, always putting our best interests at heart. Sometimes, I can feel that you are feeling tired from doing it all but you never complain. You are so strong and I admire you for that.

You may never hear me say "I love you" but in my heart and mind, I always utter those 3 deep, meaningful words. I have lost count the number of times I have broken your heart and for that I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, Mom.

You and I may have a lot of differences but one thing I know and which I want to tell the whole world is that I am proud to have you for a mother and I thank God that He gave you to me.

Happy Mother's Day.