child: I was born poor. Often we
hadn't enough to eat. Whenever
we had some food, Mother often
gave me her portion of rice.
While she was transferring her
rice into my bowl, she would say
"Eat this rice, son! I'm not
hungry."
This was Mother's First Lie.
As I grew, Mother gave up her
spare time to fish in a river near
our house; she hoped that from
the fish she caught, she could
give me a little bit more
nutritious food for my growth.
Once she had caught just two
fish, she would make fish soup.
While I was eating the soup,
mother would sit beside me and
eat what was still left on the
bone of the fish I had eaten, My
heart was touched when I saw
it.
Once I gave the other fish to her
on my chopstick but she
immediately refused it and said,
"Eat this fish, son! I don't really
like fish."
This was Mother's Second Lie.
Then, in order to fund my
education, Mother went to a
Match Factory to bring home
some used match boxes, which
she filled with fresh
match sticks.
This helped her get some money
to cover our needs. One wintry
night I awoke to find Mother
filling the match boxes. by
candle light. So I said,"Mother,
go
to sleep; it's late: you can
continue working tomorrow
morning." Mother smiled and
said "Go to sleep, son! I'm not
tired."
This was Mother's Third Lie.
When I had to sit my Final
Examination, Mother
accompanied me. After dawn,
Mother waited for me for hours
in the heat of the sun. When the
bell rang, I ran to meet her..
Mother embraced me and
poured me a glass of tea that
she had prepared in a thermos. The
tea was not as strong as my
Mother's love, Seeing Mother
covered with perspiration, I
once gave her my glass and
asked her to drink too. Mother
said "Drink, son! I'm not thirsty!".
This was Mother's Fourth Lie.
After Father's death, Mother had
to play the role of a single
parent. She held on to her former job;
she had to fund our needs alone.
Our family's life was more
complicated. We suffered from
starvation. Seeing our family's
condition worsening, my kind
Uncle who lived near my house
came to help us solve our
problems big and small. Our
other neighbours saw that we
were poverty stricken so they
often advised my mother to
marry again. But Mother refused
to remarry saying "I don't need
love."
This was Mother's Fifth Lie.
After I had finished my studies
and gotten a job, it was time for
my old Mother to retire but she
carried on going to the market
every morning just to sell a few
vegetables. I kept sending her
money but she was stead fast
and even sent the money back
to me. She said, "I have enough money."
That was Mother's Sixth Lie.
I continued my part-time studies
for my Master's Degree. Funded
by the American Corporation for
which I worked, I succeeded in
my studies. With a big jump in
my salary, I decided to bring
Mother to enjoy life in America
but Mother didn't want to
bother her son; she said to me"I'm not
used to high living."
That was Mother's Seventh Lie.
In her dotage, Mother was
attacked by cancer and had to
be hospitalized. Now living far
across the ocean, I went home
to visit Mother who was bed ridden
after an operation. Mother tried
to smile but I was heart broken
because she was so thin and
feeble but Mother said,"Don't
cry, son! I'm not in pain."
That was Mother's Eighth Lie.
Telling me this, her eighth lie,
she died.
YES, MOTHER WAS AN ANGEL!
M – O – T – H – E – R
"M" is for the Million things she
gave me,
"O" means Only that she's
growing old,
"T" is for the Tears she shed to
save me,
"H" is for her Heart of gold,
"E" is for her Eyes with love-light
shining in them,
"R" means Right, and right she'll
always be,
Put them all together, they
spell
"MOTHER" a word that means
the world to
me.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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