Love Thy Mom

Whoa, a month since my last post...

So it's only apt to blog about raya now. Spent a week + in Kedah this year for Raya. Which is incredible cause the last time I spent more than 2 days there was probably when I was just graduated and menganggur. Anyways, so many things I didn't blog about (including my nephew's birth) but whatever, the older I get, the less I feel the need for everyone to know everything.

So, this Raya ada 2 additional people, which is Kak Ila my sister in law and Khalil, my 21 days old nephew. FYI my brother was married since 2009 but the last 2 rayas, they spent abroad and this is the first year they raya here in Malaysia as a married couple, topped up with a kid, no less. It was the usual Raya, the usual faces, the usual food, laughter, clothes, blablabla.

What I really wanted to write about was my mom and generally all moms, and how we always take their efforts for granted.Like my mom, for raya, she'll wake up really early to cook for us kids, and also for tetamu yg may or may not datang, and spend the day on her feet to attend to the guests (or if there were no guests, just attending to us kids). At the end of the day, we sit on front of the TV, and don't really know what our mom is doing, when she is actually cleaning the mess made earlier during the day (probably by us kids, again). The bf called me the other day from Terengganu and said that he wanted to take a nap for a while and I asked him "Sayang, what's your Mom doing now?" and he said he don't know. "Don't you think you could at least check on what she's doing now? Or ask if she needs help? You dah la jarang balik," and he disagreed and said that his sisters are helping his Mom. "Sayang, your mom bangun tidur 5am, masak kat you and your family berjam-jam. Anak dia bangun pukul 2pm, makan, then terus keluar dengan kawan2, sampai malam then balik cari makanan lagi. Nobody ever asks if she has eaten, or if dia nak pergi mana mana, or if dia needs any help," (OK admittedly when I was younger I do these things as well, but now dah matang sikit and I help my Mom whenever I can).

My mom is 60+ and a single mother, and has never remarried since my Dad's death 16 years ago. So imagine your parents, and their responsibilities, and you push them into 1 person with the setting of Syawal. Dahsyat kan? My mom has been doing that for 16 years now. To top it off,all three of us were going thru (or about to in a few years) our rebel teenage phase. Bila fikir balik rasa bergenang air mata.

This year, nampak jugak la mama letih skit. So my sister gave her a foot massage the night after our open house because she was on her feet the whole day. I gave her a foot massage the next day as well cause we were out beraya and she looks penat. Why didn't I give her foot massages before? I don't know. She surely deserves a million foot massages from us kids, that's for sure.

Anyway, my point is, love your parents.Yes, when we were younger we probably thought they were being really annoying but I'm sure now everyone can see why they did what they did. Kalau kita duduk sekejap and reflect back what our Moms did for us (despite our yelling and sulking and talk backs) we'd realize that a simple Maaf Zahir Batin isn't actually enough to erase our wrongdoings. Like me, I think if I cried blood and grovel at her tapak kaki memohon keampunan pun, doesn't match up to how I acted towards her when I was younger. But knowing Moms, esp my mom, she forgives everything I do the instant I do it.

If I can be half as big-hearted as my Mom, I'd die a peaceful person.