10/05/2026
Little arms wrapped around me this morning, excitedly saying, โHappy Motherโs Day, Maman!!โ
The last few weeks have been very difficult for our family. As I reflect on motherhood, the scene of my mother beside my brother in his final days came flooding back to me.
If you feel my life is full, multiply that by a hundred and you will begin to glimpse hers ๐ฅน. Five children, a business, a farm, social groupsโฆ A calendar no one could keep up with, an an event she was meant to lead out of town just days later.
That morning, she had already left early for the farm, a few hours away. My brother woke and realised she was gone. He called her and said, โI need you, Mom. Please donโt leave.โ
She made a U-turn.
She dropped everything and returned to his bedside. Morning, day, and night, until the very end ๐ค
My mother was not always present in the way I imagined mothers to be when I was little. There were no goodnight kisses, no mother-daughter dates. She was often busy, often unreachable. I used to resent her absence and her impossibly high expectations.
But becoming a mother myself has softened and widened my understanding of love.
I may not have received gentle words or warm embraces in the ways a little girl longed for, but she sacrificedโฆ she gave me an overseas education. She gave me three languages. She gave me resilience, adaptability, courage, kindness, and the audacity to dream bravely.
The older I get, the more clearly I see her heart.
A mother is not measured by perfect attendance or flawless chapters. She is a mother because of her heart, and that might look different for every stories.
To every mother in the world, Happy Motherโs Day. You are so loved, so needed, and far more impactful than you may ever realise, even if we donโt understand. You did your best, and that is what matters the most. Time will reveal (it did it to me) your heart.
And Mama, I am so deeply sorry for your loss. You were the most beautiful mother for your firstborn son. ๐ค
And I am so proud too. And I want to be like you.
1st frame is a portrait of my mom and my late brother, Ko Wi ~ whom we miss terribly ๐๏ธ