Happy Birthday, Momsy

I've heard it said that if you want to know how a girl, or a woman, will look when she's older, the thing to do is to look at her mother. I do hope they're telling the truth. My mom's turned 61 today, and she doesn't look a day past 45. She has aged so gracefully, that I couldn't resist asking her, just a month ago, how it is that she manages to look so young. With a smile, she told me, "there's my secret", and pointed to my dad (who, I think, was scrolling down the news, that time).

Aside from my father (I am quite certain she'd given the best answer to my question), I think it's my mom's possession of that joie de vivre that has enabled her to ward off the "old woman" look. Laughter is one of the things she's not stingy with; it's quite contagious, too, her laugh. She has an innate ability to shrug stress and sadness away; she's an advocate of clean living (which she doesn't forget to remind us, her kids, about, by the way); and she seems to have that perennial twinkle in the eye for new things, undiscovered places. She's always loved to travel, go places; lakwatsera, as we call her. 

All in all, she's managed to maintain a certain sense of wonder for people and places and things, which is not something that I can say for myself, tsk.

Today, I raise a toast to my mom, and all the things that she is, most of which I continue to hope I could still become. 

But first, that youthful glow. I should ask her for more tips.

Thank God For Mothers

This week promises to be a real grind, as Kim's got the measles and I won't be able to take time off from work so I'll be jetting (I wish!) between the office and Makati Med, and this I'll have to do everyday, until the doctor decides that the little guy is fit to be discharged.

A blessing comes in the form of my mom, who'll be coming here all the way from Bicol, so the little one will have someone watching over him while I'm at work. This has me musing about the cycle of life that my mom usually speaks about: one day, it'll be my turn to do what she's doing, when my kids have kids of their own and grandma Shan'll be on call to watch over their little ones when Mom/Dad can't.

Can't wait for Kimpot to get well. He looks so wawa with those rashes and the discomfort of being sick.

Happy Birthday, Mommy

“Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all.”
-Oliver Wendell Holmes